Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his officials have had with representatives of regional authorities in north east Syria on the (a) evacuation and (b) repatriation of British children.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Officials have discussed the evacuation and repatriation of British orphans and unaccompanied minors with representatives of the civilian de facto authorities in north east Syria on several occasions, most recently on 18 October.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the level of (a) direct (b) indirect support provided by his Department to UK peace building and conflict resolution services globally in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK Government plays a leading role in financing and supporting peacebuilding and conflict resolution through a broad range of bilateral and multilateral channels. For example, in the last three financial years the UK has contributed £19,055,708 (FY2016/17), £22,547,737 (FY2017/18), and £20,708,625 (FY2018/19) towards the UN's Special Political Missions. In addition to our contributions through the UN, the Government has supported a range of bilateral conflict prevention, stabilisation and peacebuilding initiatives, many funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund - total expenditure £242.4m in FY2017/18. The cross-Government Stabilisation Unit and our offices and network of missions overseas also play an important role in delivering UK government support to peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN Human Rights Council (a) condemning the detention and torture of female human rights activists in Saudi Arabia and (b) requesting the release of those women.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat this wherever and whenever it occurs. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Saudi Arabian authorities to (a) release female human rights defenders detained in since May 2018 and (b) bring to justice those suspected of their torture.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat this wherever and whenever it occurs. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.