Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role, as a member of the Troika, the UK retains in any international or regional efforts to end the civil war in Sudan; and what initiatives the UK has been involved in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are working alongside Troika and other international partners to end the violence in Sudan, allow unfettered humanitarian access and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process. The UK issued a joint statement with its Troika partners on 29 May, reaffirming our support for the African Union's roadmap for the resolution of the Sudan conflict. On 4 August, the UK and its Troika partners released a further statement, condemning recent reports of killing based on ethnicity and widespread sexual violence in Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias. We continue to engage in other formats and at the United Nations General Assembly in September, UK Ministers and senior officials participated in four meetings with different groupings of partners to tackle the situation in Sudan.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei in Sudan has intervened in recent conflict in Abyei; whether there is any obstacle to increasing the size of this force; and what is the UK’s contribution to the force.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government commends the efforts of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to help maintain peace and security in Abyei under challenging circumstances. In March 2023, the UK Government sent a joint political delegation from British Embassy Juba and British Embassy Khartoum to Abyei to engage UNISFA's leadership following the transition to a multinational force and commend its efforts to tackle the security situation. We are aware of the increased presence in southern Abyei of the South Sudan People's Defence Forces and National Police, in violation of the 2011 peace agreement. The presence of forces is exacerbating tensions and hindering peace. We call upon the government of South Sudan to withdraw its forces without delay.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) reports that malnutrition is increasing in parts of South Sudan, and (2) the extent to which this is the result of returnees and others fleeing the war in the North; and what steps they intend to take in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan is putting additional pressure on already scarce food resources in South Sudan. The UK Government have provided £2.25 million to meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan who have fled the violence in Sudan - £1.5 million of this has been allocated to the World Food Programme for food provision in border areas. On 20 September, Minister Mitchell met South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss efforts to secure peace in Sudan, implementation of South Sudan's Peace Agreement and the need for greater humanitarian assistance.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are promoting UK expertise in conflict prevention and reconciliation in Africa through academic study and training in the UK; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funds two international scholarship schemes - Chevening and Commonwealth. Chevening offers scholarships to applicants from over 160 Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries and territories to study for Masters degrees in any subject at any British University. Commonwealth scholarships are offered for post-graduate studies in development focussed subjects. Chevening and Commonwealth Scholarships both promote UK expertise by allowing scholars to undertake post-graduate studies in conflict prevention and reconciliation related areas. Through these two schemes, the FCDO currently funds scholarships for 15 Chevening and 14 Commonwealth scholars from African countries studying for post-graduate degrees in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and reconciliation related courses in the UK, with an additional 37 African Commonwealth scholars studying long distance in their home countries through UK universities.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to African universities and institutions specialising in conflict, in particular in (1) Sudan, (2) South Sudan, (3) Eritrea, and (4) Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Currently we do not provide support to universities in any of the specified countries. Through our recent Strategic Partnership for Higher Education, Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR) programme we have provided support to universities in Somaliland, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and provided conflict support to universities in Jordan and Lebanon supporting Syrian refugees. This programme ran from 2016-2022 and focussed on transforming the quality, relevance, scale, access and affordability of higher education systems through mutually beneficial partnerships. A successor programme is currently being developed which will be accepting/encouraging bids from Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case of Joana Mamombe MP and other political activists recently detained in Zimbabwe; whether they have made representations to the government of that country in respect of those detentions in the context of the forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe; and what plans they have to press for an increase in the number of international observers of those elections.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has observed a trend of lengthy pre-trial detention of government critics in Zimbabwe. The Minister for Development and Africa raised this issue with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa when they met in the margins of His Majesty the King's Coronation. As I, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, stated in the House last week, 'we have raised our concerns with the Government [of Zimbabwe] and have publicly called for full investigation into the allegations', of abduction and abuse of opposition members Joana Mamombe MP, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. The UK welcomes Zimbabwe's announcement that invitations have been sent to a broad range of international observer missions for elections on 23 August.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which detention centres for migrants and refugees in Libya are (1) routinely visited by United Nations agencies, and (2) receive international aid, irrespective of who operates those centres.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law and international human rights standards and to avoid any action that may endanger human life. We continue to monitor the abuse of migrants and refugees in Libya and the inhumane conditions in detention centres. The UK supported the mandate for the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya to asses human rights abuses, including violations in detention centres. We continue to urge the interim Government of National Unity to take steps to end the exploitation and abuse of migrants and to implement a better functioning system that respects human rights. We support the UN's call for detention centres across Libya to be closed, and call on all parties to engage with the UN and the humanitarian community so that all migrants and refugees can be evacuated safely in accordance with international human rights law.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of success that they or United Nations agencies are having in reaching refugees fleeing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Access into Sudan remains extremely limited, including almost no access to parts of Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan states. We continue to work with the UN, neighbouring states, donors and humanitarian agencies to coordinate the effective delivery of aid in Sudan and urge the parties to the conflict to abide by their commitments under international humanitarian law. It is essential that lifesaving humanitarian aid is allowed to reach those in harder-to-reach areas, such as Darfur. The Minister for Development and Africa [Andrew Mitchell] announced that the UK will provide £21.7 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan. This follows an earlier announcement of £5 million to help meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad. This aid will provide assistance such as safe drinking water, food, medical care and shelter to people in need, as well as supporting Gender Based Violence protection services. The UK also continues to fund and provide support to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that provides a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. OHCHR have deployed staff to neighbouring countries' borders to interview survivors of the violence, with a view to collecting witness testimonies and preserving these for possible future accountability mechanisms, should they be established.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide further opportunities for non-governmental organisations to comment on the UK’s plan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of one of the largest consultation exercises run by the UK Government, the department consulted with individuals, businesses, business associations, non-governmental organisations and public sector bodies on the UK potentially seeking accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and received almost 150,000 responses.
We continue to engage with a range of stakeholders about CPTPP, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). We have offered briefings on specific issues to various NGOs and responded in writing where they have expressed an interest in issues related to the agreement, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made by international agencies which the UK supports with conflict resolution in Abyei, on the South Sudan border.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is engaged with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and welcomed the UNISFA mandate being renewed for 12 months by the UN Security Council in November. The UK raised our stance on ongoing intercommunal violence in Abyei at the UN Security Council on 9 May, and called on the Government of South Sudan to remove its forces from Abyei without delay. It is essential that UNISFA is able to fulfil its mandate to protect civilians, and support law and order, local peacebuilding and community dialogues.