Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) his Iraqi counterpart and (b) his counterpart in the Kurdistan Regional Government on security and reconstruction in Batnaya.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
We regularly engage with both the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government on the need for security and reconstruction throughout the territories liberated from Daesh. The Prime Minister and other Ministers discussed these issues with the President of Iraq, Barham Salih, during his visit to the UK on 25-27 June.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iraqi counterpart on the safety and security of internally displaced people returning to Bartella.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The UK strongly supports the safe, voluntary and sustainable return of internally displaced Iraqis to the areas liberated from Daesh, including in the Nineveh Plains. Both the Prime Minister and other Ministers discussed these issues with the President of Iraq during his visit to the UK in June and I also discussed them with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammad Al-Hakim, on 25 June. We have contributed £23.15 million to the UN's Funding Facility for Stabilisation to help the Government of Iraq rebuild communities in liberated areas to enable further voluntary returns of displaced persons. We have not made a recent specific assessment of the level of employment opportunities for internally displaced people returning to towns on the Nineveh Plains.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 the level of employment opportunities for internally displaced people returning to towns on the Nineveh Plains; and what support his Department is providing to those people.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The UK strongly supports the safe, voluntary and sustainable return of internally displaced Iraqis to the areas liberated from Daesh, including in the Nineveh Plains. Both the Prime Minister and other Ministers discussed these issues with the President of Iraq during his visit to the UK in June and I also discussed them with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammad Al-Hakim, on 25 June. We have contributed £23.15 million to the UN's Funding Facility for Stabilisation to help the Government of Iraq rebuild communities in liberated areas to enable further voluntary returns of displaced persons. We have not made a recent specific assessment of the level of employment opportunities for internally displaced people returning to towns on the Nineveh Plains.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the intimidation and harassment of BBC Persian journalists by the Iranian authorities.
Answered by Mark Field
The reports of BBC Persian staff in Iran being harassed and subject to asset freezes and similar forms of mistreatment are deeply worrying. The Foreign Secretary raised this in Tehran in November 2018 as did the former Minister of the Middle East and North Africa in August 2018. In March 2019 we also supported the renewal of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. We will continue to regularly raise this issue at all levels of the Iranian Government.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on the involvement of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei in the construction of the UK's 5G data network.
Answered by Mark Field
My right honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport gave details of the Government’s position on this matter to Parliament on Thursday 25 April (Official Report, column 881)
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department provides financial support to assist in the repatriation of the bodies of British victims of terrorism killed abroad.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
In certain circumstances the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can enact Exceptional Assistance Measures (EAM) which can cover the cost of repatriation. EAM are only activated when a terrorist attack has occurred, and then only in exceptional circumstances, and on a case-by case basis. EAM does not replace the need for comprehensive travel insurance which will also cover costs such as repatriation.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help tackle the persecution of Christians in Karachi, Pakistan.
Answered by Mark Field
We remain deeply concerned by the treatment of minority religious communities in Pakistan. This includes Christian communities throughout the country, including in Karachi.
We regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level, including when the Foreign Secretary saw Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in December 2018. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, raised the treatment of minority communities with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 19 February during his visit to Pakistan. At the UN Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan in November 2017, the UK pressed Pakistan to strengthen the protection of minorities, including by establishing an independent National Commission for Minorities.
On 30 January 2019, the Foreign Secretary and the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, launched an Independent Review of Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians overseas.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
We remain deeply concerned by the treatment of minority religious communities in Pakistan. This includes Christian communities throughout the country, including in Karachi.
We regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level, including when the Foreign Secretary saw Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in December 2018. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, raised the treatment of minority communities with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 19 February during his visit to Pakistan. At the UN Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan in November 2017, the UK pressed Pakistan to strengthen the protection of minorities, including by establishing an independent National Commission for Minorities.
On 30 January 2019, the Foreign Secretary and the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, launched an Independent Review of Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians overseas.