Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Hong Kong Government's announcement that it no longer recognises the British National (Overseas) passport as a valid travel document or proof of identify on holders of that passport being able to access their mandatory provident funds early.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund Authority is unfairly disrupting people's livelihoods by refusing to accept the British National (Overseas) visa when Hong Kongers apply for early withdrawal of their pensions. This is preventing Hong Kongers from accessing funds they are entitled to. The Government has raised our concerns with the relevant Hong Kong authorities.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to renew the Government's commitment to help 50 million people access nutrition services over the next five years.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government is actively considering its approach to the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit, following the conclusion of the Spending Review. We will set this out as early as possible as part of the business planning process.
The FCDO is continuing to work closely with the Government of Japan to make sure the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit supports meaningful action by governments, donors, businesses, the UN and civil society.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support people affected by the conflict in Azerbaijan.
Answered by Wendy Morton
On 1 September I announced £500,000 to support the UNDP in enabling effective mine action work in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, including territories returned to Azerbaijan following last year's conflict. The region is one of the most heavily contaminated with land mines in the world and the money the UK has given will eventually allow people to live safely and without fear of harm from unexploded ordnance. This funding complements the £1 million the UK gave last year to the ICRC in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. The UK Government continues to consider what further support we might provide to both the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the coming months as they recover from the conflict.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support people affected by the famine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and what steps his Department plans to take to support those people so affected in that country in the future.
Answered by James Duddridge
Preventing famine is one of the UK's top priorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since 2017, UK aid has provided 1.97 million people with food aid, cash and vouchers to reduce food insecurity and treated over 300,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition in DRC. The UK's Special Envoy for Famine Prevention, Nick Dyer, visited DRC in July to discuss with the Government of DRC and the humanitarian community how best to tackle the crisis. I also discussed the importance of tackling the humanitarian situation when I visited DRC in November 2020. This included my discussions with President Tshisekedi during my visit, and again during our telephone call in March. Over the coming year, the UK will continue to prioritise humanitarian assistance for food insecure people and malnourished children and work with the Congolese Government and international partners to address the underlying causes of the crisis.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Israeli Government on that Government's obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide vaccines for the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We recognise that under International Humanitarian Law, Israel, as the occupying power, has a duty of ensuring and maintaining public health and hygiene, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, including in relation to combating the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We also recognise the Palestinian Authority's responsibilities for vaccinations under the Oslo Accords (under Article 17). Cooperation is key to tackling Covid-19: the British Embassy Tel Aviv and the British Consulate-General Jerusalem are in regular contact with both parties and continue to urge them to coordinate on vaccine access.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in response to the military trial, detention and reported ill-treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv last raised the issue of Palestinian children in detention on 19 March with the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
We continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, in particular the need to protect children.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the persecution of followers and practitioners of Falun Gong.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practice, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to improve support and protection for human rights defenders across the world.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK strongly supports Human Rights Defenders worldwide to enable them to carry out their work safely and without fear. In 2019, the Minister of State responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, launched the document 'UK support for Human Rights Defenders' which was drawn up with significant and important input from relevant stakeholders, including Amnesty International, and which sets out how the UK Government engages with Human Rights Defenders to advance the human rights agenda globally.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to end the preventable deaths of mothers, children and newborns by 2030.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK Government remains committed to supporting maternal and child health interventions as part of our manifesto commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and children by 2030.
Globally, we are working with agencies such as the World Health Organisation, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents to support governments in strengthening health systems in affected countries, providing technical assistance, improving quality of care, and immunising children.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will place sanctions on Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriev in response to his funding of the Belarussian regime and president Alexander Lukashenko.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has been at the forefront of the international response towards the fraudulent election and human rights violations in Belarus. Alongside Canada, we led on implementing sanctions against Lukashenko and his inner circle under the UK's Global Human Rights Regime. We have also carried over the EU's Belarus sanctions regime into UK law. We are aware of reported links between Mr Gutseriev and the Lukashenko regime but to preserve the integrity of the sanctions process, it would be inappropriate to speculate publicly on future designations.