Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Nigerian authorities about the continuing captivity of the Chibok girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government condemns the abduction and continued captivity of children by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) in North East Nigeria. This includes the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls, around 90 of whom are understood still to be missing. At the second UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) dialogue in February, the UK strengthened its commitment to providing mentoring and capacity building support to agencies tackling the threat of kidnap within Nigeria. Through this partnership, the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) is working with Nigeria to create a Multi-Agency Kidnap Fusion Cell (MAKFC). This will make these agencies and bodies more interoperable with one another and create a more joined up approach when future incidences of kidnappings occur.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on trade to Northern Ireland from Great Britain of repealing regulation 13 of the Windsor Framework Retail Movement Scheme Regulations 2023 and the powers of the EU in Article 14(5) of the EU regulation 2023/1231.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has now laid the Windsor Framework (Implementation) Regulations 2024 before Parliament. These regulations will provide powers for the Government to fulfil the commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper on upholding Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market.