Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether personal protective equipment has been imported in to the UK which is the result of forced labour in the Xinjaing province of China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government takes all allegations of modern slavery and forced labour extremely seriously. We expect suppliers to follow the highest legal and ethical standards and to carry out proper due diligence for all government contracts. We continue to urge all businesses involved in investing in Xinjiang, or with parts of their supply chains in Xinjiang, to conduct appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to support, any human rights violations or abuses.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
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 Cabinet colleagues on potential sanctions on the people responsible for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
On 6 July, the UK Government established the Global Human Rights sanctions regime. It is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated in the future, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. We will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support independent (a) tribunals and (b) assessments on China's treatment of its Uyghur population.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have serious concerns about gross violations of human rights occurring in Xinjiang and welcome any additional analysis on the situation in Xinjiang that is rigorous, balanced and raises awareness of the situation faced by Uyghurs and other minorities in China. At the UN Human Rights Council and UN Third Committee, the UK has repeatedly used both its national statements and joint statements with international partners to call on China to grant unfettered access to Xinjiang for UN experts and observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We did so alongside 38 countries at the UN Third Committee on 6 October.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese Government on allowing Human Rights Monitors access to Xinjiang's camps.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is deeply concerned about the gross human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK's longstanding calls for China to allow unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent experts, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Xinjiang directly with his Chinese counterpart in July. We have also repeatedly called on China to allow UN experts unfettered access to Xinjiang at the UN, including in a recent joint statement with 38 other countries at the UN Third Committee on 6 October.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will continue to take part in the EU monitoring mission in Georgia after leaving the EU on 31 January 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The United Kingdom currently has six secondees in the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia. Whilst the Withdrawal Agreement provides for continued British participation in the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations and missions during the transition period, all six will leave the mission when their current contracts come to an end on 31 January. This follows decisions taken by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to meet the operational needs and ensure the business continuity of the mission.
The United Kingdom is proud to have contributed personnel to EUMM Georgia since its inception in 2008, and we continue to support the objectives of the mission.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to monitor freedom of religion or belief in Cuba following revisions to that country's constitution.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Cuba's new constitution addresses freedom of religion or belief in Articles 15 and 57, and provides for protection against discrimination on the grounds of religious belief in Article 42. The new constitution was adopted on 10 April, following a referendum on 24 February and a public consultation exercise during which religious groups were consulted. We are concerned about reports from Christian Solidarity Worldwide that some religious groups were pressured to vote in favour of adoption of the constitution, although we believe that this pressure was common throughout Cuban society and not only confined to religious groups. The UK will continue to monitor human rights in Cuba, including freedom of religion or belief, in line with guarantees in the new constitution, and to discuss human rights regularly with the Cuban Government, bilaterally, through our continuing membership of the EU and multilateral human rights fora.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
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 accuracy of reports of harassment of Cuban church leaders in the lead-up to the constitutional referendum in Cuba in February 2019.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Cuba's new constitution addresses freedom of religion or belief in Articles 15 and 57, and provides for protection against discrimination on the grounds of religious belief in Article 42. The new constitution was adopted on 10 April, following a referendum on 24 February and a public consultation exercise during which religious groups were consulted. We are concerned about reports from Christian Solidarity Worldwide that some religious groups were pressured to vote in favour of adoption of the constitution, although we believe that this pressure was common throughout Cuban society and not only confined to religious groups. The UK will continue to monitor human rights in Cuba, including freedom of religion or belief, in line with guarantees in the new constitution, and to discuss human rights regularly with the Cuban Government, bilaterally, through our continuing membership of the EU and multilateral human rights fora.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Cuban counterpart on the potential effect of that country's new constitution on freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Cuba's new constitution addresses freedom of religion or belief in Articles 15 and 57, and provides for protection against discrimination on the grounds of religious belief in Article 42. The new constitution was adopted on 10 April, following a referendum on 24 February and a public consultation exercise during which religious groups were consulted. We are concerned about reports from Christian Solidarity Worldwide that some religious groups were pressured to vote in favour of adoption of the constitution, although we believe that this pressure was common throughout Cuban society and not only confined to religious groups. The UK will continue to monitor human rights in Cuba, including freedom of religion or belief, in line with guarantees in the new constitution, and to discuss human rights regularly with the Cuban Government, bilaterally, through our continuing membership of the EU and multilateral human rights fora.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the reported targeting of (a) Uighur Muslims, (b) Christians, (c) people who practise Falun Gong and (d) Tibetans for live organ harvesting in China.
Answered by Mark Field
We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.
However, as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Europe and the Americas, said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of persecution of people who practise Falun Gong in China.
Answered by Mark Field
We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, as well as Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and others, in China on the grounds of their religion or belief. Everyone should be free to practice their religion according to their beliefs, in accordance with the international frameworks to which both the UK and China are party. We believe that societies which aim to guarantee freedom of religion or belief are more stable, prosperous and more resilient against violent extremism.
We raised our concerns about freedom of religion or belief during China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2018. We also highlighted our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s most recent Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.