Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the EU on making the 90 days within 180 rule for travel to the Schengen area more flexible.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 March 2023 to Question UIN 161257 which can be found on the Q&A webpages: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-08/161257
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of discrimination faced by Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We are concerned about increased tensions in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and are monitoring the situation closely. We are committed to achieving a negotiated two-state solution, which envisions both Israel and a viable Palestinian State, living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition. We have a regular dialogue on human rights with the Government of Israel to encourage them to abide by obligations under international law and to do all it can to uphold the values of equality for all.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he made of the average cost to UK citizens to repatriate themselves during 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 from priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers. We are determined that the cost of a flight will not be a barrier to bringing British travellers home but we are asking passengers to make a contribution so that we can put on as many flights and bring back as many people as possible. To set a limit on the costs to travellers, we aim to charge passengers no more than £400 for flights under 6 hours, £600 for 6-10 hours and £800 for over 10 hours (using the airline industry's 'time-in-air' calculator). On average, passengers have paid less than £600. Pricing is kept under constant review and there have been small deviations in the past where we have sought to achieve better value for money for taxpayers. Costs above this amount are borne by the taxpayer.
We hope most travellers will be able to claim their costs from their travel insurance but for those British Nationals that cannot afford the cost of a flight to return, and have no other funding options, they may be eligible for financial support through an emergency loan from public funds
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he made of the potential merits of using flights chartered by other European Governments to repatriate UK citizens that were stranded abroad during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The welfare of British nationals remains our top priority, and we remain committed to ensuring that British travellers around the globe, and British nationals who are resident overseas but wish to return home to the UK, are able to do so. We have been working with European governments, both bilaterally and multilaterally, including through existing European mechanisms, to share details on the repatriation of nationals and priorities for co-ordinated lobbying on maintaining commercial routes for nationals to return. More than 3,400 British travellers have been helped home by other governments around the world including EU Member States.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens stranded abroad due to the covid-19 pandemic; and where those citizens are located.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The welfare of British nationals remains our top priority, and we remain committed to ensuring that British travellers around the globe are able to return home. Since the outbreak in Wuhan, we estimate that over 1.3 million people have returned to the UK via commercial routes - the majority supported by our work with airlines and foreign governments to keep vital routes open. We have now brought back more than 25,000 people on 123 flights organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 24 different countries and territories.
We are aware that the number of British nationals remaining overseas is now in the low tens of thousands and our effort is focused on supporting their return as quickly and safely as possible. Over the next week we will return thousands more British nationals on charter flights from India, Nigeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Guyana, Honduras, Ghana, Pakistan, Nigeria, and New Zealand.