Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to hold discussions with G7 counterparts on memorandums of understanding for deep sea mining.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
In conjunction with the recent G7 Summit in Japan, the G7 Ministers for Climate, Energy and Environment met at the G7 Hiroshima Summit in April 2023 and agreed a Communique on 16th April which included mention of deep seabed mining, that the G7 will "continue to actively engage in the development of a regulatory framework on deep seabed mineral exploitation under International Seabed Authority (ISA) that ensures effective protection for the marine environment from harmful effects which may arise from such activities, as required under the UNCLOS". The full G7 statement on deep sea mining can be found at www.env.go.jp.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 representatives of the UN World Food Programme on the UK's aid to Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK Government are providing diplomatic support for efforts to secure a cease-fire, enable humanitarian access, scale-up aid delivery and address the impacts on neighbouring countries. As part of these efforts, I spoke with Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths on 30 April to discuss the UN's humanitarian response in Sudan and plans for resuming aid operations. Separately, whilst in Kenya on 29/30 April I also discussed the crisis in Sudan with President Ruto, Chairperson of the African Union Moussa Faki, and other interlocutors. FCDO officials have also discussed Sudan with counterparts from the World Food Programme. The UK is a committed donor in Sudan, having spent over £250 million in humanitarian aid in the last five years.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to discuss the use of Tibetan language in schools within that country with his relevant international counterparts at the next G7 summit.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We are aware of reports that Tibetan parents are being coerced into sending their children to boarding schools in Tibet with no access to traditional Tibetan learning. We continue to raise the situation in Tibet with the Chinese authorities, and in March, we raised the issue of boarding schools in our Item 4 statement at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). We also coordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet. In June 2022, a UK led lobbying effort helped to secure the support of 46 other countries for a joint statement at the HRC which highlighted the situation in Tibet, and called on the Chinese authorities to abide by their human rights obligations. On 18 April a G7 Foreign Ministers Communiqué noted that all G7 countries continue to raise concerns with China on human rights violations, including in Tibet. We will continue to work with international partners and press China to cease human rights violations.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Pakistan on free and fair elections in that country in the last six months.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We respect Pakistan's democratic process and do not interfere in its domestic political affairs. We engage regularly with the Government of Pakistan, including on the upholding of democratic norms.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the health of democracy and the democratic process in Pakistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We respect Pakistan's democratic process and do not interfere in its domestic political affairs. We engage regularly with the Government of Pakistan, including on the upholding of democratic norms.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has met with representatives of the the Fairtrade Foundation to discuss farming support for people in poverty in developing countries in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley
The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development has not yet met with representatives of the Fairtrade Foundation. The FCDO works with organisations like Fairtrade Foundation through its agriculture portfolio, which contains programmes that are designed to support farmers in the most vulnerable countries. For example, with UK International Climate Finance (ICF), we are supporting the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness programme (CASA), the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), and other agriculture interventions. Officials have consulted Fairtrade Foundation and other sector stakeholders and welcome the opportunity to continue to do so as our work evolves.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent conversations he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the delivery of aid to affected areas of the earthquake in the Malatya province of Turkey.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Prime Minister spoke to President Erdogan on 7 February and the Foreign Secretary has engaged regularly with his Turkish counterpart on maximising the efficiency of aid deliveries in Turkey, including Malatya province, and across the Syrian border. The UK has committed a significant package of aid, including by delivering thousands of vital items such as tents and blankets to Turkey and Syria, totalling over 400 tonnes. Development Minister Mitchell also visited Turkey on 19 February to see the response first-hand.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to help ensure the safety of protestors in Iran.
Answered by David Rutley
Since the start of protests in September, the Foreign Secretary has summoned Iran's most senior diplomat in the UK five times to demand an end to the Iranian authorities' worsening crackdown on protests and their use of the death penalty. Lord Ahmad had reiterated this message in his conversations with the Chargé d'Affaires, most recently on 20 December. It has also been relayed to the Iranian authorities through our ambassador in Tehran. With our partners, the UK has also secured the removal of Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the establishment of a UN investigation into the regime's appalling human rights violations. We will continue to hold Iran to account for its actions.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the sale of Iranian-made drones to hostile states.
Answered by David Rutley
Iran's support for the Russian military campaign in Ukraine is deplorable and the supply of drones is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231. The UK has raised this issue alongside partners at the UN Security Council on 19 October and 19 December 2022. On 20 October and 13 December, the UK adopted new sanctions alongside the EU against Iranian individuals and entities involved in these transfers. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to work with partners to hold Iran to account for all of its malign activity, through our words and actions.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new sanctions on Iran in response to the human rights violations against protestors in that country.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK maintains sanctions on over 300 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights violations, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Since protests began we have introduced three separate sanctions packages, imposing sanctions on leading political, judicial and security officials for their role in committing serious human rights violations in supressing the current protests. We keep our designations list under constant review and will continue to work with partners to ensure the Iranian regime is held to account for its appalling actions.