Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the UNHCR 2023 Regional Refugee Response Plan to assist South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries; and what estimate has been made of how many of the refugees are returning to South Sudan through agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting South Sudanese refugees in the region. In financial year 2022/23, the UK Government allocated at least £156 million in humanitarian support to East Africa. Our support is providing essential services and supplies, including food, clean water, nutritional support and healthcare, to millions of people, including South Sudanese refugees. The UNHCR reports that over 500,000 refugees have returned to South Sudan since the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement in 2018. A stable, sustained peace in South Sudan will be essential to allow refugees to return home safely - the UK funds peacebuilding programmes and continuously calls on the Government of South Sudan to implement the peace agreement in full, stop the violence and protect its citizens.
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 current state of food distribution among South Sudanese refugees in Arua district, northern Uganda; and what steps they have taken in response to the latest World Food Programme appeal for that area.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Fifty-seven percent of Uganda's 1.5 million refugees are from South Sudan, accommodated mostly in settlements in the West Nile region, bordering Arua District. The UK is committed to providing life-saving assistance and protection to all refugees in Uganda, including nutrition and cash support for food security and to build self-reliance. In financial year 2022/23, the UK Government provided £9.1 million for refugee support in Uganda. We are working with the World Food Programme and other partners to ensure limited resources are prioritised for the most vulnerable.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the £421 million they announced for drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery services on 16 February, how much will be allocated to support patients (1) dependent on, or (2) withdrawing from, prescribed drug dependencies.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Building a drug and alcohol treatment and recovery system is the key aim of the Government’s long-term drug strategy. On 16 February 2023, the Government announced that 151 local authorities across England are receiving £421 million funding through to 2025 to combat drug and alcohol misuse, with areas with the highest need prioritised.
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area, and commissioning services to meet these needs. Local authorities therefore determine the level of funding that they may choose to allocate to support patients dependent on, or withdrawing from, prescribed drug dependencies.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will fund a national helpline and website for people suffering from prescribed drug dependency, as recommended by Public Health England in 2019.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This helpline recommendation formed part of a wider set of actions to improve the support available from the healthcare system to people who are dependent on prescription drugs. NHS England has been the facilitator of system partners in their work to deliver the review recommendations. In March 2023, NHS England published ‘Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: Framework for action for ICBs and primary care’. A copy is attached. This document includes five actions, resources and case studies that will help systems to develop plans that can support people who are taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to support the provision of tapering strips which enable patients to withdraw from prescribed drugs slowly and safely.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline 'Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults' includes information for both health professionals and patients on the safe withdrawal from medicines. As part of the evidence review for this guideline, tapering strips were considered for their potential use in decreasing patient doses and withdrawing from antidepressants but no evidence was identified.
A recommendation was made in the final guideline for further research on the effectiveness of equipment, technologies, practical aids and medicine formulations in supporting people to manage dose reductions, compared with usual practice. NICE keeps its guidance under review to ensure that it reflects any developments in the evidence base. A copy of this guidance is attached.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government and churches of South Sudan concerning the recent conflict in Abyei; and what steps they will be taking following those discussions.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are monitoring the ongoing violence in Abyei and urge for those responsible to be held accountable. The churches play a critical role in peace-making and building at the local and national level in South Sudan, including in Abyei. We are engaging with the churches to follow up on the messages delivered during the ecumenical visit to Juba from 3 to 5 February. The UK supports the calls of the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland on the Government of South Sudan to end violence and implement the peace agreement.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their timetable is for achieving the fourth Universal Periodic Review of human rights in the UK; and what consultations they have so far completed.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The UK is very supportive of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process and has recently completed its fourth cycle.
In January 2022 the UK Government, in collaboration with the devolved governments, ran a series of engagement sessions with civil society organisations and the UK’s National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) covering a breadth of human rights issues, to facilitate open discussions about any particular areas of concern.
In August 2022 the UK submitted its state report to the UN, a copy of which can be found on gov.uk, and in November 2022 the UK attended an interactive dialogue session with the Human Rights Council and other UN Member States. During that session a number of recommendations on cross-cutting human rights issues were made.
Following consultation with the devolved governments, civil society organisations and the UK’s NHRIs, the UK has now submitted its position on the UPR recommendations to the UN. These will be formally adopted at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council later this month and will be subsequently published on the UN website.
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) the latest agreement between the Army and civilian organisations in Sudan, and (2) whether this agreement will support the development of a democratic government in that country.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Minister for Africa and Development joined the other members of the Quad (KSA, UAE and US) and the Troika (US and Norway), as well as the Friends of Sudan in welcoming the signing of an initial framework agreement on 5 December as an essential first step towards establishing a civilian-led government in Sudan. We urge all Sudanese actors to engage constructively in the ongoing dialogue to secure a democratic transition. The UK supports the role of the tripartite mechanism (UN-AU-IGAD) in facilitating negotiations and calls on parties to do the same. A concerted effort by all parties to reach a final political agreement is crucial to address Sudan's current economic, political and humanitarian challenges.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the international community, including the UK, retain any recognised role in Darfur, Sudan, as a humanitarian shield for the local population; and if not, what protection remains for non-governmental organisations in that country.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK continues to provide support to those affected by the ongoing violence in Darfur and has provided over £250 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan over the past five years; much of which has been allocated to Darfur. The UK works closely with the UN mission in Sudan (UNITMAS) to support its mandated tasks. This includes assisting the Sudanese authorities to implement the Juba Peace Agreement and their National Plan for the Protection of Civilians to help establish a secure environment and address instability in regions such as Dafur. We have consistently sought to maintain attention on the humanitarian situation in Darfur; by raising this issue at the UN Security Council and advocating for the Sudanese military to allow unfettered humanitarian access to allow support to reach those in need.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghan refugees have been admitted to the UK under the UNHCR Resettlement Schemes since August 2021; and how many further applications they expect to approve in the first quarter of 2023.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Earlier this summer, we began receiving referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of vulnerable refugees who have fled Afghanistan for resettlement to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 2.
UNHCR has the global mandate to provide international protection and humanitarian assistance to refugees, and with whom we already work in resettling refugees under our flagship UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Mandate and Community Sponsorship Schemes. UNHCR will refer individuals in accordance with their standard resettlement submission criteria, which are based on an assessment of protection needs and vulnerabilities. Under both our current and previous resettlement schemes we have accepted and resettled a number of Afghan refugees in third countries. Historic and current operational data in relation to the UK’s resettlement schemes, including broken down by nationality, can be found at: Gov.UK
We are also pleased to have now welcomed the first families (four individuals) under ACRS Pathway 2. On 24th November the latest Immigration Statistics publication included data on Pathway 2 arrivals for the first time and this can be found using the same link. We anticipate receiving referrals from UNHCR for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review. We will continue to receive UNHCR referrals to the scheme in coming years.