Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which private sector organisations the Government has been working with to encourage compliance with OECD due diligence guidance in Colombia.
Answered by Mark Field
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD DDG) sets out recommendations to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral purchasing decisions and practices. While not legally binding, the recommendations reflect the common position and political commitments of OECD members and non-member adherents. Grievances against companies registered in OECD member and adherent non-member countries that have allegedly failed to meet the guidelines' standards can be taken to the OECD's National Contact Point in the relevant country. When the European Union Conflict Minerals Regulation comes into full force on 1 January 2021, the OECD Guidance will become mandatory for the largest importers of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG) into the European Union.
The 2018 Annual Human Rights report included details of the Government's work to support responsible mining practices in Colombia. On 6 February 2018 the OECD published a report on due diligence in Colombia's gold supply chain. For Due Diligence to be effective it needs to be implemented across the supply chain. To achieve this it is essential to work with all actors in the supply chain including NGOs and the private sector. We do this through the OECD's multi-stakeholder group linked for their Implementation Programme for the DDG. In addition, the UK helped to found the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals, a multi-stakeholder initiative which aims to increase the supply and demand of responsibly sourced minerals. You can find a current list of European Partnership for Responsible Minerals members at the following link: https://europeanpartnership-responsibleminerals.eu/member.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish a report on the Government-funded project to support the engagement of the private sector with the truth commission in Colombia.
Answered by Mark Field
Over the 2016-2018 financial years, we financed a project, implemented by Centro Regional de Empresas y Emprendimientos Responsables CREER in Colombia, to help implement the measures in Colombia's National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights which provide for non-judicial remedy of potential disputes related to extractive industry projects. The guide for firms, produced following extensive consultations, workshops and three pilot projects, can be found here (in Spanish).
For more information on the global objectives of this (and other) programmes, please see our ODA collection pages on GOV.UK . The Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains committed to meeting transparency requirements, published on gov.uk
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much the UK embassy in Colombia spent on each of its projects and programmes in that country in 2018.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Colombia project and programme spend during 2018 is set out in the following table. The International Climate Fund and Newton Fund are owned by BEIS, who have contributed to this response.
| Programme/Fund | 2018 spend | Notes |
| Conflict Security and Stability Fund | £11.5M | Two CSSF programmes active in Colombia in 2018. |
| Prosperity Fund | £8.75M | Two Prosperity Fund programmes active in Colombia in 2018. |
| Newton Fund | £4.0M | This is the 2018 country envelope budget figure, as full year spend figures are not yet available. For reference, 2017 spend was £4.6M. Newton Fund works in partnership with Colombia on science and innovation projects. |
| International Climate Fund | £0.258M | Includes only spend directly attributable to Colombia. excludes ICF spent through multilateral funds an other global programmes. This is not directly attributable to individual countries, as money is pooled with other donor finance. |
| FCO Departmental Policy Programme (International Programme) | £0.82M | |
| | |
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the political and conflict situation in West Papua as part of its role as the UN Security Council penholder on peacekeeping and protection of civilians in armed conflict.
Answered by Mark Field
The British Government follows the situation in Papua closely. We respect the territorial integrity of Indonesia. Officials at the Embassy in Jakarta, visit Papua and West Papua provinces regularly. I met the Indonesian Ambassador in January and raised Papua with him, and I addressed a parliamentary debate on the issue on 8 May.
We fully support efforts by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and her officials to arrange a visit to Papua at the invitation of the Indonesian government. Officials in our Embassy in Jakarta have discussed the proposed visit with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and encouraged Indonesia to agree dates as soon as possible.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what programmes his Department allocates funding to in Colombia.
Answered by Alan Duncan
In Colombia, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocates funding to Conflict Serurity and Stability Fund programmes, Prosperity Fund programmes, and to smaller interventions under the International Programme. Our programmes in Colombia are designed to advance Foreign and Commonwealth Office and wider UK Government policy objectives, including achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Programme funds deliver against a range of policy objectives for example assisting Colombian human rights defenders; supporting implementation of the peace deal; tackling serious organised crime; and supporting institutions, infrastructure, and agricultural development in the country's post conflict and conflict-affected regions.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his US and Mexican counterparts on the decision by the US Administration to introduce rising tariffs as a means of tackling illegal immigration from Mexico.
Answered by Alan Duncan
This is a bilateral issue between the US and Mexico.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans review the UK’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong if that country allows extradition to China.
Answered by Mark Field
We have noted the concerns voiced by legal and business representative organisations and civil society groups in Hong Kong about both the content and the short consultation period allowed for the proposed changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance.
We have raised a number of issues relating to the proposals with the Hong Kong Government at senior levels. These include potential implications for our bilateral extradition treaty, as well as the potential consequences for the UK business community and for UK citizens living in or travelling through Hong Kong. We will continue to seek clarity from the authorities on these points.
The Foreign Secretary and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, issued a Joint Statement on 30 May 2019, which noted concern for the potential effect of the proposals on the large number of UK and Canadian citizens in Hong Kong, on business confidence and on Hong Kong’s international reputation. They made clear that any extradition arrangements in Hong Kong should be in line with ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and fully respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy. They also urged the Hong Kong Government to engage meaningfully with Hong Kong’s broad range of local and international stakeholders in order to ensure their concerns are fully considered.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to send election observers to monitor the forthcoming Bougainvillean independence referendum in October 2019.
Answered by Mark Field
The British Government is fully committed to supporting the Bougainville Peace Process, including the forthcoming referendum. We are contributing £95,000 to the UN's Bougainville Referendum Support Project, and have shared our expertise on post-conflict reconciliation, including from Northern Ireland. We have yet to receive an invitation to deploy election observers but stand ready to help ensure a free, fair and peaceful vote.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Vietnamese counterpart on the (a) number of prisoners of conscience and (b) freedom of expression in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK is concerned at restrictions on freedom of expression in Vietnam. We have regularly raised these issues at the United Nations and bilaterally with the Government of Vietnam.
We raised concerns about freedom of expression and assembly, the treatment of prisoners and the protection of civil society in Vietnam during Vietnam’s Universal Periodic Review in January 2019, and again in a UN Human Rights Council Item 2 Statement in March 2019.
Bilaterally, I raised freedom of expression at the UK-Vietnam High Level Political Dialogue in January 2019. Ahead of the Media Freedom Conference in July 2019, the UK will continue to raise media freedom with the Vietnamese government.