Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending diplomatic protection to Anoosheh Ashoori and Nazanin Ratcliffe.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We have received Mr Ashoori's application for diplomatic protection. The Foreign Secretary is considering the matter carefully. In Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, the Foreign Secretary was clear that diplomatic protection would not lead to an overnight resolution. We remain committed to securing Mr Ashoori's, Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe's and Mr Tahbaz's immediate and permanent release. The Foreign Secretary raised the UK's strong opposition to Iran's practice of detaining foreign and dual nationals with her Iranian counterpart on 8 November and will continue to do so. Our Ambassador in Tehran regularly raises Mr Ashoori's, Mr Tahbaz's and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's cases with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to secure the release of UK citizens arbitrarily detained in Iran.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Foreign Secretary continues to raise Iran's practice of detaining British dual nationals with her Iranian counterpart, most recently in a call with Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian on 8 November and Minister Cleverly raised this with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Bagheri Kani, on 11 November. Our Ambassador in Tehran continues to raise our detainees regularly with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We remain committed to doing all we can to ensure that British nationals being unfairly detained by Iran are released and allowed to return home to be reunited with their families.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to call for the restoration of civilian government in Sudan.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We strongly condemn the actions of the Sudanese military on 25 October, including to detain Prime Minister Hamdok and members of the civilian government and declare a state of emergency. Over the past two years, the UK has taken a leading role to support Sudan on their delicate path from oppressive autocratic rule to freedom and democracy; the acts of the military represents a betrayal of the Sudanese people and that journey. With our Sudan Quad partners (KSA, UAE and US) we issued a statement on 3 November calling for the release of all those unlawfully detained and restoration of the civilian-led transitional government. We expressed our condemnation at a meeting of the UN Security Council meeting on 26 October, which was followed by a statement from members of the Council. We also secured a Special Session at the UN Human Rights Council on 5 November to discuss the situation.
I personally commended the African Union (AU)'s leadership in their decision to suspend Sudan from all activities at a joint AU-UN Security Council meeting on 28 October and reiterated my concerns over the actions of the Sudanese military in a Westminster Hall debate on 3 November. With our international partners we continue to maintain public international pressure on the military to return to the democratic transition in order to deliver the freedom, peace and justice called for by the Sudanese people.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking in response to the coup in Sudan.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We strongly condemn the actions of the Sudanese military on 25 October, including to detain Prime Minister Hamdok and members of the civilian government and declare a state of emergency. Over the past two years, the UK has taken a leading role to support Sudan on their delicate path from oppressive autocratic rule to freedom and democracy; the acts of the military represents a betrayal of the Sudanese people and that journey. With our Sudan Quad partners (KSA, UAE and US) we issued a statement on 3 November calling for the release of all those unlawfully detained and restoration of the civilian-led transitional government. We expressed our condemnation at a meeting of the UN Security Council meeting on 26 October, which was followed by a statement from members of the Council. We also secured a Special Session at the UN Human Rights Council on 5 November to discuss the situation.
I personally commended the African Union (AU)'s leadership in their decision to suspend Sudan from all activities at a joint AU-UN Security Council meeting on 28 October and reiterated my concerns over the actions of the Sudanese military in a Westminster Hall debate on 3 November. With our international partners we continue to maintain public international pressure on the military to return to the democratic transition in order to deliver the freedom, peace and justice called for by the Sudanese people.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to continue providing funding and support to Palestinian civil society organisations; and what programmes are available for applicants to gain access to support.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Cabinet Office publishes Conflict Security and Stability Fund annual programme summaries on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/conflict-stability-and-security-fund-programme-summaries. They outline the annual budget, a short summary of the programmes, and a breakdown of the projects in the programme. We will continue our support for peacebuilding projects in Financial Year 2021/2022 though exact spend figures are not yet available. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement her Department has had with the six Palestinian civil society organisations recently designated as terrorist by the Israeli Government; and whether she plans to engage with those groups in the future.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are aware of the decision by the Israeli authorities and will be seeking additional information to understand the basis for the designations. Human rights and civil society organisations have a vital role to play in the development of thriving, open societies.Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
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 implications for her policies of the designation of six Palestinian civil society organisations as terrorist by the Israeli government; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are aware of the decision by the Israeli authorities and will be seeking additional information to understand the basis for the designations. Human rights and civil society organisations have a vital role to play in the development of thriving, open societies.Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans the Government has to support the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We recognise UNRWA's unique mandate from the UN General Assembly, to provide protection and core services including health and education to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. Budgets for 2020 were outlined in our Statistics in International Development report available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, further to the Answer of 9 September 2021 to Question 41953, if she will provide a breakdown of the year and value of each contract and the nature of the consultancy services procured in each case.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The financial figures associated with each contract have been temporarily removed from the public domain due to the current situation in Afghanistan, while we review the security risks of this information being made publicly available.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many payments have been made to Adam Smith International for work in Afghanistan in each year since 2010; what the amount of each of those payments was; and what services were provided in return for those payments.
Answered by Nigel Adams
FCDO's consultancy spend with Adam Smith International (ASI) for work in Afghanistan from 2011 -2017 was £53.9 million.
There have not been any contracts with ASI for Afghanistan since 2017.