Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals are awaiting repatriation as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The British Government is working with the airline industry and host governments across the world to help bring back British travellers to the UK as part of the plan announced by the Foreign Secretary on 30 March - with up to £75 million available for special charter flights to priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers. As of 0800 on 27 April, we estimate around 57,500 British Nationals (BN) are still wanting to return to the UK, with 1 British national passenger still to return from cruise ships.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the covid-13 outbreak, how many EU Civil Protection Mechanism flights the UK has participated in to date.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK has activated the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) on several occasions, as part of our international response to coronavirus, which has helped repatriate British Nationals and EU citizens. As of 16 April, the UK has activated 6 flights.
Stranded British travellers and their families are our priority. One of the conditions of activating the CPM is to allow EU nationals on board as well. In regions where there have been a large number of British people who wish to return to the UK that has not always been possible. The CPM would, therefore, not be relevant as we haven't been able to offer seats to EU nationals.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment has he made of the effect of the continued detention of female activists in Saudi Arabia on human rights in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are concerned about the continued detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, and allegations that activists have been subject to torture during detention. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the ongoing detention of political detainees, including women's rights defenders, during his visit to Riyadh on 4 and 5 March. We will continue to raise concerns.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he made of the risk to female British tourists visiting Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We welcome Saudi Arabia's recent reforms supporting greater female participation in Saudi society, including through the expansion of education and employment opportunities. However, women's rights in Saudi Arabia still fall short of international standards. We continue to raise our concerns about women's rights with the Saudi authorities along with broader human rights issues, most recently by the Foreign Secretary during his visit earlier this month. We have not issued any travel advice specifically for British women visiting Saudi Arabia.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi counterpart on the detention of Prince Turki bin Abdullah.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We continue to monitor the cases of political detainees in Saudi Arabia, including Prince Turki bin Abdullah. We regularly raise human rights issues with Saudi Arabia, most recently by the Foreign Secretary during his visit earlier this month.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of the UK assets and investments of those implicated in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on on the human rights of women's rights activists in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain concerned about the continued detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, and about the allegations that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during their detention in Saudi Arabia. We have consistently called for them to have access to legal representation, raised concerns about the use of solitary confinement and allegations of torture, and have pressed for due process. During his visit to Riyadh on 4 and 5 March, the Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the continued detention of women's rights activists. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise these cases.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on human rights of the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We regularly make clear, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, that the British Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. This is especially the case for crimes other than the most serious and for juveniles. This is in line with the minimum standards set out in the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty of 2008 and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. We regularly raise human rights issues with Saudi Arabia, most recently by the Foreign Secretary during his visit earlier this month.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential for British journalists to be expelled from (a) mainland China, (b) Hong Kong, and (c) Macau, following the decision by the Chinese Foreign Ministry to expel US citizens working for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times from those regions.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As Lord Ahmad said in the Lords on 19 March, we have consistently stated our concern about media freedoms in China. The Chinese Government's announcement that they will prevent certain American journalists from working in China and Macao further restricts transparency at a particularly important time. The suggestion by the Chinese MFA that this measure may apply in Hong Kong is deeply concerning. The Sino-British Joint Declaration is clear. It sets out that immigration decisions are the sole responsibility of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and freedom of the press is guaranteed. It is imperative that these rights and freedoms are fully respected.
We are concerned about the implications this decision could have upon British Journalists. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Chinese and Hong Kong Governments on this issue.
We remain fully committed to upholding Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms underpinned by the legally binding Joint Declaration, and the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework set out in the Hong Kong Basic Law.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential for US citizens working for British news publications to be expelled from (a) mainland China, (b) Hong Kong, and (c) Macau, following the decision by the Chinese Foreign Ministry to expel US citizens working for American news publications from those regions.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As Lord Ahmad said in the Lords on 19 March, we have consistently stated our concern about media freedoms in China. The Chinese Government's announcement that they will prevent certain American journalists from working in China and Macao further restricts transparency at a particularly important time. The suggestion by the Chinese MFA that this measure may apply in Hong Kong is deeply concerning. The Sino-British Joint Declaration is clear. It sets out that immigration decisions are the sole responsibility of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and freedom of the press is guaranteed. It is imperative that these rights and freedoms are fully respected.
We are concerned about the implications this decision could have upon British Journalists. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Chinese and Hong Kong Governments on this issue.
We remain fully committed to upholding Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms underpinned by the legally binding Joint Declaration, and the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework set out in the Hong Kong Basic Law.