Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress she has made on discussions with her French counterpart on stopping illegal crossings of the English Channel by migrants.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK and France agree on the need to cooperate closely to stop people traffickers. Working together we stopped over 23,000 illegal migration attempts in 2021. The Foreign Secretary underlined the need for a practical and pragmatic approach to migration with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting in December. The Prime Minister has discussed his commitment to work with France on the shared challenge of illegal migration in the Channel with President Macron, most recently on 5 February.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 adequacy of LGBT rights in Chechnya.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK Government has raised the issue of LGBT rights repeatedly with the Russian Government and made clear that Russia must abide by its international human rights obligations.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to never recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK does not and will not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. We continue to make it clear to Moscow that Crimea is, and will remain, part of Ukraine.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 adequacy of LGBT rights in Russia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK Government has raised the issue of LGBT rights repeatedly with the Russian Government and made clear that Russia must abide by its international human rights obligations.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 political situation in (a) Tibet and (b) Xinjiang.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The FCDO monitors closely the situations in Tibet and Xinjiang. We are deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Tibet, including reports of severe restrictions on freedom of religion of belief, Tibetans dying in custody, coercive control, and labour transfer schemes.
We also have serious concerns about the human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang, including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in "political re-education camps" since 2017, systematic restrictions on Uyghur culture and the practice of Islam, and extensive and invasive surveillance targeting minorities.
The UK Government continues to raise concerns about the human rights situation in China directly with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. Most recently, the Prime Minister did so in a telephone call with President Xi on 29 October, as did the Foreign Secretary in her introductory call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 22 October. I personally raised the situation with the Chinese Ambassador to London in our meeting on 15 December.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms are in place to assess the suitability of educational materials used in schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency in (a) the West Bank and (b) Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We strongly condemn all forms of violence and incitement to violence. We accompany our support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks and other learning material to ensure they reflect UN values. In Gaza and the West Bank, UNRWA uses the PA's curriculum in their schools after rigorously reviewing that it is in line with UN values.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Government of Benin in response to the jailing of opposition figures in recent weeks.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK supports freedom of expression as both a human right in and of itself, and as an essential element for the enjoyment of other human rights. Following the May 2020 local elections in Benin, we were concerned at the low rate of participation and that only one opposition party took part. This was despite the provisional ruling of the African Court of Human and People's Rights that the Government of Benin should take steps to avoid the exclusion of opposition parties. The UK was also concerned to see the violence that marked the presidential elections in April 2021.
Freedom of expression is an essential quality of any functioning democracy; people must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely, to challenge their governments, and to make informed decisions. The UK hopes President Talon's recent dialogue with his predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi in September 2021 will lead to a formal dialogue with opposition parties in Benin.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 strength of democratic institutions in Benin.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK supports freedom of expression as both a human right in and of itself, and as an essential element for the enjoyment of other human rights. Following the May 2020 local elections in Benin, we were concerned at the low rate of participation and that only one opposition party took part. This was despite the provisional ruling of the African Court of Human and People's Rights that the Government of Benin should take steps to avoid the exclusion of opposition parties. The UK was also concerned to see the violence that marked the presidential elections in April 2021.
Freedom of expression is an essential quality of any functioning democracy; people must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely, to challenge their governments, and to make informed decisions. The UK hopes President Talon's recent dialogue with his predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi in September 2021 will lead to a formal dialogue with opposition parties in Benin.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made of the long-term financial implications of the UN Relief and Works Agency’s entitled beneficiaries.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We are working with UNRWA to improve their financial viability. This includes broadening UNRWA's donor base, encouraging the full disbursement of pledges and encouraging support through multi-year funding. I reiterated this at the International Conference on UNRWA on 16 November.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 PRC Chinese interference with the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands following that country's switch to recognising the PRC as the representative government of China.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The UK and Solomon Islands have a strong bilateral relationship with shared priorities including security, stability, economic development and tackling climate change. Bilateral relations between China and Solomon Islands are a matter for those two countries.