Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken with international partners to (a) end and (b) assist victims of sexual violence in conflict-affected areas of Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a major humanitarian donor to Sudan. We provided over £235 million last financial year, and a further £120 million this year. We support women and girls through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutilation 2 programme. This provides protection, prevention, and care services in response to rising gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). We also support the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme and fund local responders via the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium. This year, the UK PSVI Team is supporting the deployment of a specialist sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) investigator to the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Sudan, delivered through our implementing partner UN Women. This contribution supports the UK offer to the FFM and ensures expert input on SGBV to strengthen accountability for conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. At the UN, the UK has led efforts to spotlight CRSV and other atrocities, including ten Security Council press statements and the renewal of the FFM's mandate.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the safe return of British nationals from countries impacted by airspace closures in the Middle East.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Support to British nationals remains our top priority and we have worked at pace to ensure those who wanted to leave left safely. Consular teams have worked round the clock to support British nationals in the region. As soon as Israeli airspace re-opened UK government charter flights left Israel carrying more than 380 people on six flights. In allocating seats, we prioritised those who were most vulnerable, including those with medical needs, children, and the elderly. Commercial flights are now available.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on ensuring the safety of people retrieving aid in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is appalled by reports of civilian fatalities at aid distribution sites in Gaza. This underscores the urgent need to protect civilians accessing humanitarian assistance. The Foreign Secretary raised the safety of aid workers with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on 15 April, and again on 22 June, where he expressed concerns about mass casualty incidents and stressed the need to deliver aid at scale. In our 13 May statement to the UN Security Council, we made clear the UK will not support any aid mechanism that compromises civilian safety or humanitarian neutrality. We continue pressing for safe, unimpeded aid delivery through all diplomatic channels, including with regional partners and at the UN.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) his Israeli counterpart, (b) the United Nations and (c) humanitarian organisations on the availability of safe drinking water in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK works closely with partners to provide the delivery of vitally needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. Desalination plants must be able to operate and provide clean drinking water for civilians. In the last financial year, we provided a £2 million uplift, through a contribution to the World Bank, to increase the sustainable supply of water and energy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including in Gaza. We are proud that UK support has meant over 430,000 people have received essential healthcare, more than 640,000 have received food, and 275,000 people have improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 57318 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, if he will publish that letter; and whether he plans to respond to the letter.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has noted the views expressed in the open letter of 26 May 2025 from legal experts concerning the situation in Gaza. As the letter is publicly available on a dedicated website, the Government does not plan to publish it separately. The UK addressed the concerns raised through a public statement issued on 27 May 2025, reaffirming our opposition to the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza and call for immediate, unhindered humanitarian access. We continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including legal experts, on the legalities and operational challenges involved in doing so.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has taken recent steps with international partners to enable (a) the UN and (b) other humanitarian organisations to distribute aid in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has taken recent steps with international partners to support humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza. On 19 May, we issued a joint statement with 27 partners calling for the immediate resumption of aid, reaffirming support for the UN and other humanitarian organisations to deliver it independently and impartially. The statement also noted we could not support the new model approved by the Israeli cabinet for delivering aid, which has since been associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. I have consistently called for safe, unhindered access for humanitarian actors and backed the UN's aid proposal, which is grounded in humanitarian principles and includes safeguards against aid diversion. We continue diplomatic efforts to secure sustained access.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53139 on Ministry of Defence: Weapons, whether he is taking steps to help ensure (a) that weapons exported to Israel for defensive purposes cannot be used for offensive purposes and (b) compliance with international law on arms exports.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are currently no extant export licences for use in military operations in Gaza. This is subject to the specific measures taken to protect the global F-35 programme. The action we have taken, as announced to Parliament, is consistent with all our legal obligations, including those under the Arms Trade Treaty, and we remain wholly committed to international law.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the legality of the arrangements to distribute privatised humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to work with international partners, including the United States, to ensure aid can flow into Gaza and secure a lasting peace in the region. We are grateful to the US for their efforts to secure a ceasefire and we will continue to support them. We have been clear that we do not support any aid mechanism that seeks to deliver political or military objectives or puts vulnerable civilians at risk. We call on Israel to urgently engage with the UN to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles. We endorse the plan for delivery of aid put forward by the UN on 16 May which is based on humanitarian principles, has built in mitigations against aid diversion and uses established mechanisms to deliver at the scale required.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 53953 on Gaza: Infant Mortality, whether the Israeli Government responded to the request to (a) stop military operations in and (b) immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to make clear that the UK stands firmly against Israel's resumption of military action in Gaza. We continue to call on the Government of Israel to lift restrictions immediately to enable humanitarian aid to enter at scale. We made this clear again at the UN Security Council last week, when we voted in favour of a draft UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza. Ministers continue to make representations to Israeli counterparts on these issues as we call for a lasting peace.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 53953 on Gaza: Infant Mortality, whether he has made an assessment of the likelihood of the British Red Cross humanitarian funding reaching Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 4 June, I announced an additional £4 million to the British Red Cross (BRC) in supporting Gaza. The UK has assessed that, despite severe access constraints, BRC, has a credible and realistic pathway to reach Gaza through its partner, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). This assessment is based on the PRCS's longstanding operational presence in Gaza and its continued ability to deliver aid where conditions allow. The UK remains in close contact with the BRC to monitor delivery and ensure accountability. Working with the BRC and international partners, we continue to push for improved humanitarian access.