Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Middle East Minister visits Gulf to deepen economic ties, published on 7 July 2022, whether the Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East held discussions with her Bahraini counterpart on the case of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Officials and ministers have regular discussions with senior Bahraini counterparts on human rights, including most recently during my visit to Bahrain from 2-3 July.
We continue to follow and discuss the cases of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace and others with the Bahraini Government as well as with the independent oversight bodies. We continue to encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the appropriate Bahraini oversight body.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what date she plans to publish the 2022 annual Gulf Strategy Fund Programme Summary.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Gulf Strategy Fund Programme Summary will be published on the August cross-Whitehall publication day, which is scheduled to take place on 25 August.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the arrest of journalist Mohammed Zubair, what steps her Department plans to take to help protect the freedom and safety of religious minority journalists in India.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are aware of the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and the co-founder of Alt News, and concerns around media freedom in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi continues to follow these events closely, while recognising that the Indian judicial system is a matter for the Government of India. The UK Government remains committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
We work closely with and regularly engage India's vibrant media, which promotes lively debate across the political spectrum, and do this through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship Programme under our flagship Chevening brand which includes over 60 Indian alumni. In 2021, we supported the Thomson Reuters Foundation in running workshops for journalists reporting on issues such as human trafficking and child labour. On 5 May 2021, the then-Foreign Secretary led a discussion with G7 members and guest states, including India, on further multilateral coordination to promote media freedom. He stressed to all states the importance of media freedom and combatting the use of arbitrary detention and encouraged support for UNESCO's Global Media Defence Fund.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the arrest of journalist Mohammed Zubair in India, if she will discuss with her Indian counterpart the (a) protection of press freedoms and (b) safety of journalists in that country.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are aware of the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and the co-founder of Alt News, and concerns around media freedom in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi continues to follow these events closely, while recognising that the Indian judicial system is a matter for the Government of India. The UK Government remains committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
We work closely with and regularly engage India's vibrant media, which promotes lively debate across the political spectrum, and do this through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship Programme under our flagship Chevening brand which includes over 60 Indian alumni. In 2021, we supported the Thomson Reuters Foundation in running workshops for journalists reporting on issues such as human trafficking and child labour. On 5 May 2021, the then-Foreign Secretary led a discussion with G7 members and guest states, including India, on further multilateral coordination to promote media freedom. He stressed to all states the importance of media freedom and combatting the use of arbitrary detention and encouraged support for UNESCO's Global Media Defence Fund.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 her Indian counterpart on press freedoms in India.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are aware of the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and the co-founder of Alt News, and concerns around media freedom in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi continues to follow these events closely, while recognising that the Indian judicial system is a matter for the Government of India. The UK Government remains committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
We work closely with and regularly engage India's vibrant media, which promotes lively debate across the political spectrum, and do this through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship Programme under our flagship Chevening brand which includes over 60 Indian alumni. In 2021, we supported the Thomson Reuters Foundation in running workshops for journalists reporting on issues such as human trafficking and child labour. On 5 May 2021, the then-Foreign Secretary led a discussion with G7 members and guest states, including India, on further multilateral coordination to promote media freedom. He stressed to all states the importance of media freedom and combatting the use of arbitrary detention and encouraged support for UNESCO's Global Media Defence Fund.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ensure the safety and independence of journalists in India in the context of the recent change in that country's position on the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are aware of the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and the co-founder of Alt News, and concerns around media freedom in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi continues to follow these events closely, while recognising that the Indian judicial system is a matter for the Government of India. The UK Government remains committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
We work closely with and regularly engage India's vibrant media, which promotes lively debate across the political spectrum, and do this through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship Programme under our flagship Chevening brand which includes over 60 Indian alumni. In 2021, we supported the Thomson Reuters Foundation in running workshops for journalists reporting on issues such as human trafficking and child labour. On 5 May 2021, the then-Foreign Secretary led a discussion with G7 members and guest states, including India, on further multilateral coordination to promote media freedom. He stressed to all states the importance of media freedom and combatting the use of arbitrary detention and encouraged support for UNESCO's Global Media Defence Fund.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that the Indian Government fulfils its commitments as a signatory to the 2022 G7 Resilient Democracies Statement in the context of reported persecution of Indian journalists who are critical of the governing Bharatiya Janata party.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are aware of the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and the co-founder of Alt News, and concerns around media freedom in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi continues to follow these events closely, while recognising that the Indian judicial system is a matter for the Government of India. The UK Government remains committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
We work closely with and regularly engage India's vibrant media, which promotes lively debate across the political spectrum, and do this through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship Programme under our flagship Chevening brand which includes over 60 Indian alumni. In 2021, we supported the Thomson Reuters Foundation in running workshops for journalists reporting on issues such as human trafficking and child labour. On 5 May 2021, the then-Foreign Secretary led a discussion with G7 members and guest states, including India, on further multilateral coordination to promote media freedom. He stressed to all states the importance of media freedom and combatting the use of arbitrary detention and encouraged support for UNESCO's Global Media Defence Fund.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much humanitarian aid has been provided to Rwanda in each of the last ten years prior to the agreement to enter into an offshoring refugee partnership.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is a longstanding partner to Rwanda, having provided Official Development Assistance (ODA) to support Rwanda's social and economic development for over a decade. The UK's annual bilateral assistance to Rwanda from 2009-2020 is available via our Statistics on International Development publication, and 2020-21 final audited spend in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of forgiving Rwanda’s international debt.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The FCDO regularly discusses macroeconomic and debt issues with the Rwandan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rwanda is on track with its IMF policy coordination programme, and the latest IMF debt sustainability analysis assesses Rwanda as having a strong debt-carrying capacity, and a moderate risk of debt distress.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK’s humanitarian aid to Rwanda was reduced following the reduction in Overseas Development Aid in the last two years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As announced in 2020, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce our spend on official development assistance (ODA) as a share of the UK's gross national income. This has led to a reduction in the budget allocations for our existing programmes in the last two years.