Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2024 to Question 13244 on Nigeria: Christianity, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in (a) Benin and (b) Cameroon on the situation in Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Whilst I have not recently discussed rising insecurity in Nigeria with my counterparts in Benin and Cameroon, the UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria to address these challenges, including through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, and continues to engage with a range of stakeholders to address these complex issues.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he met the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the last 12 months.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There have been no ministerial meetings with the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the last 12 Months.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of changes in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK welcomes the recent meeting between President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan in Munich on 17 February; meaningful direct dialogue is the only way to secure stability and security for the region. I [Minister Docherty] underlined the UK's support for negotiations to conclude a final peace settlement during my visit to Yerevan and Baku in November 2023. Officials are delivering this message in their ongoing engagements with Armenia and Azerbaijan. We urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue full negotiations as soon as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the outcome of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Kampala in January.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As the United Kingdom is not a member or observer of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), we were not represented at the summit. The British High Commission in Kampala monitored the event remotely. The outcome document is publicly available and sets out the NAM's positions on a range of global issues.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many officials from his Department are stationed in the British Virgin Islands.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Governor's Office in Tortola comprises of nine staff funded by the UK Government as well as staff funded by the Government of the Virgin Islands.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help support good governance in the British Virgin Islands.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2021, the UK Government supported the then Governor's decision to launch an independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) into governance in the BVI and provided £2.7 million to cover the costs of the Inquiry.
Since the publication of the COI Report in April 2022, the FCDO have been working to support the elected BVI government and the Governor as they deliver a comprehensive governance reform programme based on the Report's recommendations.
In addition to funding extra staff in the Governor's Office to support this work, we are also providing £1.2 million of support and technical assistance. I [Minister Rutley] visited BVI from 4-6 February for discussions with the Premier and others to press the need to accelerate delivery and meet agreed deadlines.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of implementation of the recommendations made in the Commission of Inquiry report for governance reform in the British Virgin Islands.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Progress on implementing the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Commission of Inquiry recommendations has been too slow. I (Minister Rutley) was in the BVI from 4-6 February to discuss how to speed up delivery with the elected BVI Government and others working directly on governance reforms. The Premier gave a firm commitment to accelerating matters with a target of the end of May for completion of the reforms. Over the coming weeks, I will continue to engage closely on implementation in order that the people of BVI get the good governance they deserve.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has met (a) his Nigerian counterpart and (b) the Nigerian High Commissioner to discuss killings of Christians in central and northern Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Rising insecurity in Nigeria has affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. The root causes of this insecurity are often complex. UK Government officials and I regularly raise freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), including the impact of insecurity on communities across central and northern Nigeria, underlying the need to bring perpetrators to justice, with the Nigerian Government. Most recently, the British High Commissioner has raised the attacks in Plateau state over Christmas with the National Security Advisor. In February 2024 we discussed strengthening UK support to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. The former Foreign Secretary also raised this issue with President Tinubu and the National Security Adviser during his visit in August 2023.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many UK nationals have requested consular assistance in Lebanon in the last four months.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has records of six instances where we provided consular assistance to UK nationals in Lebanon between 1 October 2023 and 31 January 2024. This number represents instances where consular assistance was provided following initial triage through our Consular Contact Centre. It does not include those who have registered their presence in Lebanon to receive updates from the FCDO. At present, we advise against all travel to Lebanon and advise British nationals currently in Lebanon to leave now via commercial means.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Mauritian counterpart on sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has not had recent discussions with his Mauritian counterpart on sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Discussions continue at senior official level. The UK's priority is to ensure the long term continued effective operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia. Mauritius has also publicly committed to this goal.