Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that food shortages and famine across Sub-Saharan Africa do not result in an increase in sexual exploitation of adolescent girls.
Answered by James Duddridge
Sexual exploitation is completely unacceptable. That is why the UK is a vocal advocate for safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH). We remain firmly committed to raising safeguarding standards across the aid sector and we continue to have zero tolerance to any form of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
FCDO launched a new UK Strategy on Safeguarding Against SEAH last month that applies to all UK Official Development Assistance. Partners undergo our enhanced safeguarding due diligence to ensure they meet our high standards.
The current food security situation in sub-Saharan Africa places adolescent girls at increased risk of sexual exploitation. All humanitarian programmes, including those addressing chronic hunger and its broader underlying drivers, undertake a robust gender analysis of SEAH risks. This informs programme design, interventions and monitoring. The UK is also a leading donor on gender-responsive social protection. This protects and builds the resilience of poor and vulnerable families to reduce negative coping mechanisms such as exchanging sex for food or marrying daughters in exchange for assets or cash.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 Government of Eritrea on reforming its policies that breach the human rights of (a) prisoners who have never been charged nor presented to a court of law but kept imprisoned without due legal process and incommunicado for decades and (b) other citizens.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government, along with partners in the international community, has taken every opportunity to voice our concern about arbitrary arrests and detentions in Eritrea, and has called for the release of those arrested and detained in this way. We have done so directly with the Government of Eritrea and publicly at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, most recently on 30 June at the 44th Session. Over the past year, our Ambassador in Asmara has raised the cases of journalists detained without trial, as well as members of non-registered religious groups. We do not have a regular dialogue but we will continue to seek opportunities to raise these cases in our engagements.
On 26 February, the UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered a statement during the 43rd Session of the HRC, expressing concern at continuing human rights abuses and said that the UK would continue to press for the release of arbitrarily detained individuals. Eritrea remains a priority country for the FCO under our annual human rights reporting, and we will continue to monitor the situation there.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 Security Council on the Eritrean Government's denial of access to the Red Sea for the Southern Red Sea people.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK has not been able to verify reports that the Government of Eritrea is targeting the Southern Red Sea Afar people and denying them access to the Red Sea. The UK is informed by reporting from the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, who regularly monitors the human rights situation in the country, but she has not been allowed to visit herself. We note that her latest report refers to the reported marginalization of the Afar people. We will maintain contact with her office as we seek to establish the facts. The UK strongly supports the important work that she does in challenging the Government of Eritrea to improve its human rights record. This was reiterated by the UK in our statement at the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 30 June. Eritrea remains a priority country for the FCO under our annual human rights reporting, and we will continue to monitor the situation there.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Eritrea on abolishing indefinite servitude in the form of national service in line with the findings and recommendations of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK continues to call for reform of Eritrea's use of a system of indefinite national service. Whilst the Government of Eritrea has justified this service on grounds of the security threat posed by Ethiopia and has talked about the need for reform, we have yet to see any concrete proposal following the July 2018 peace agreement. At the 44th session of the Human Rights Council in July 2020, the UK renewed calls for Eritrea to reform the national service system. The Home Office International Director raised national service reform with Eritrean ministers during her visit in February 2020.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Procurement Policy Note 04/20: Recovery and Transition from COVID-19, published on 9 June 2020, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of maintaining the provision of contractual relief as a result of covid-19 in line with Procurement Policy Notice 02/20; which (a) companies and (b) work areas will be affected by changes to that contractual relief; and what the timeframe is for proposals to change that contractual relief.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office previously considered and applied Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/20 from end of March 2020 onwards. All Relief measures agreed under PPN02/20 ended by 30th June 2020. Throughout the aforementioned period any suppliers seeking financial relief have been risk assessed by a dedicated team within the Commercial Directorate. Where relief has been considered we have applied contract change practices to ensure measures are time limited, offer transparency of costs and are able to transition to a new operational approach for that contract. All relief measures sought under PPN04/20 are to be re-assessed to test necessity and proportionality of relief to ensure maintenance of critical services.
We are working in partnership with our suppliers to develop transition plans to exit from any relief arrangements as soon as reasonably possible, including the agreement of contract variations. By the end of Oct 2020 we expect suppliers to have resumed services in line with new operational requirements and all associated relief should end by this date. This is in addition to working with all our key suppliers to review Business Continuity Plans in line with the impacts of COVID-19, potential future waves, ensuring rapid payment of invoices to maintain cash flow and protect services.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 Saudi Arabian counterpart on the reported forced eviction of 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe to make way for a new city, NEOM; and whether the Government will rescind its offer to help develop that project.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The NEOM City is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme for socio-economic reform. We are aware of the reports of evictions in the area. We welcome the Saudi announcement on 20 June to grant plots of land, housing, compensation and provide job opportunities to residents within the project area. Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, and we regularly raise areas of concern with the Saudi authorities at all levels.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make urgent representations to the Government of Saudi Arabia requesting the release of (a) female activists and (b) political prisoners.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain concerned about the continued detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the ongoing detention of political detainees, including women's rights defenders with Saudi Ministers during his visit this year to Riyadh on 4 and 5 March. We regularly raise areas of concern with the Saudi authorities at all levels, through Ministers, our Ambassador and the Embassy in Riyadh. We consistently underline the importance of political freedoms globally. This includes respect for the right to peaceful protest, the rule of law, and freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. We continue to raise concerns about individual cases regularly and monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to include the UK’s relationship with (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) other countries with similar human rights records in his integrated review of foreign policy.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia is one of great importance, covering a broad range of UK national security and economic interests. Our most recent assessment of Saudi Arabia's human rights record was published in our latest Human Rights and Democracy Report. This was published in June 2019. Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, particularly because of death penalty use, restrictions on women's rights, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief. The Foreign Secretary raised our human rights concerns with Saudi Arabia during his visit in March. We regularly raise areas of concern with the Saudi authorities at all levels, through Ministers, our Ambassador and the Embassy in Riyadh.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish correspondence between his Department and the Government of Bermuda on its policy on beneficial ownership of companies.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Government concluded an Exchange of Notes with the Government of Bermuda in 2016, setting out arrangements for the exchange of beneficial ownership information between Bermuda and the UK. Under the arrangement, UK law enforcement authorities have access, on request, to information on the ultimate owners of companies incorporated in Bermuda within 24 hours or within one hour for the most urgent cases. The Exchange of Notes and key correspondence with the Government of Bermuda on the issue of beneficial ownership are publicly available on the gov.uk website.