Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance his Department has issued to UK (a) embassies and (b) consular offices on collaboration with local police forces in the event that a UK citizen is the victim of a serious crime.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) produces internal guidance for staff to assist British nationals who have been affected by crimes abroad. This is regularly reviewed to ensure it is up to date. The FCO also works with a law enforcement adviser who advises consular staff who are supporting British victims of crime overseas.
Information on the consular assistance the FCO can provide to British nationals overseas can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-british-nationals-abroad-a-guide.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to inform family members of victims of serious crimes overseas of the outcome of local police investigations.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Anyone who is a victim of crime overseas can contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 24/7 for advice. The FCO can give general information about local police and legal procedures. In many countries, investigating authorities and the courts may refuse to answer enquiries from other people and organisations, including consular staff. In such circumstances, we may advise people to consider appointing a local lawyer to look after their interests in court, and follow any trial. More information on consular assistance for victims of crime overseas is set out on page 15 of Support for British nationals abroad: a guide. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-british-nationals-abroad-a-guide.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress has been made on (a) making Church land available for Gypsy and Traveller sites and (b) other plans to tackle racism and discrimination as agreed at the General Synod in February 2019.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The Church Commissioners manage the charitable and historic endowments of the Church to support mission and ministry financially. The Commissioners seek to make provision for a range of housing types on their land but have not recently been made aware of any requirements for the direct provision of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation on that land. Other land at a parish and diocesan level is not under the ownership or management of the Church Commissioners.
The Church has an active network for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and is also running an annual training day for clergy that offers support and guidance, alongside a conference on 24th March 2020 which aims to give voice and visibility to minorities not traditionally heard, seen and represented in the Church of England.
The Church of England’s Ministry Division and clergy senior appointments team have developed a programme of work to support vocations from UKME communities and is working towards increasing representation in the senior leadership of the Church.
The Church will also be making an additional £20 million available over three years under its new Social Impact Investment Project, which incentivises positive investment in communities over the maximisation of financial return. One of the key areas for this project will be looking at the social impact of housing and consideration will be given to the housing needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller peoples.
At its February 2020 session the General Synod of the Church of England debated and passed the following motion:
“Windrush Commitment and Legacy
That this Synod, commemorating in 2018 the martyrdom of the Revd Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., noting with joy the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush liner in the United Kingdom in June 1948 bringing nearly 500 Commonwealth citizens, mainly from the Caribbean, to mainland UK; and the eventual arrival of approximately half a million people from the West Indies, who were called to Britain as British subjects to help rebuild the post-war United Kingdom:
a. lament, on behalf of Christ's Church, and apologises for, the conscious and unconscious racism experienced by countless black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years, when seeking to find a spiritual home in their local Church of England parish churches, the memory of which is still painful to committed Anglicans who, in spite of this racism from clergy and others, have remained faithful to the Church of England and their Anglican heritage;
b. request the Archbishops’ Council to commission research to assess the impact of this on the Church of England in terms of church members lost, churches declining into closure, and vocations to ordained and licensed lay ministries missed, and to report back to this Synod and the wider Church.”
c. express gratitude to God for the indispensable contribution to the mission, ministry, prayer and worship of Christ's Church in this nation made by people of BAME descent in the Church of England;
d. acknowledge and give joyful thanks for the wider contribution of the 'Windrush generation' and their descendants to UK life and culture in every field of human activity, including service across the Armed Forces and other services during and after the Second World War; and
e. resolve to continue, with great effort and urgency, to stamp out all forms of conscious or unconscious racism, and to commit the Church of England to increase the participation and representation of lay and ordained BAME Anglicans throughout Church life;
f. request the Archbishop’s Council to appoint an independent person external to the Church to assess the current situation as regards race and ethnicity in the Church, in order to present a report to this Synod with recommendations for actions to achieve reconciliation and authentic belonging so that we can move towards truly being a Church for all people;
g. to the greater glory of the God in whose image every human being is made.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
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 assist international partners in improving the (a) living conditions and (b) processing of asylum applications of refugees on the island of Lesvos.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
New migrant arrivals on the Greek islands are accommodated in Reception and Identification Centres ("hotspots") while they are processed in line with the 2016 EU/Turkey statement. Due to high numbers of arrivals, some of the hotspots are operating well beyond capacity and conditions for many migrants are poor. The United Kingdom continues to raise concerns about conditions on the islands in discussions with the Greek Government, most recently on 7 February by our Ambassador.
We are working closely with the Greek Government, who retain responsibility for the situation of migrants in the country. We remain committed to supporting Greece's efforts in dealing with the migration challenge including through providing interpreters to support the Greek Reception Service; a United Kingdom Border Force search-and-rescue cutter in the Aegean; and over £500,000 to support the humanitarian needs of migrants on the islands for the 2019/20 winter.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential increase in severity of the humanitarian situation for refugees and migrants in the Vucjak camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of changing seasons.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The infrastructure that supports migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is under pressure, especially as we come to the coldest part of the year. A number of humanitarian organisations assess that the Vučjak site is unsafe and undignified and have urged the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to relocate those based at the site urgently. Since 2018, EU funding to Bosnia and Herzegovina on migration issues has amounted to a total of €34m, including the United Kingdom contribution, and the United Kingdom provided £565,000 of bilateral funding to communities affected by migration at the start of 2019.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the Government of Qatar on human rights and the rights of LGBT people in that country.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK's close relationship with Qatar means that we can raise a range of human rights issues with them. I am pleased that at the UN General Assembly last year, Qatar signed up to the Prime Minister's Call to Action to end modern slavery. This year, both the Rt Hon Lord Ahmad and I met with Qatar's National Human Rights committee to discuss a range of human rights issues affecting Qataris and people living in Qatar. In addition, in March I met the Secretary General of Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the World Cup in 2022 and discussed the measures taken to improve both the living and working conditions of construction workers. Since then, the International Labour Organisation, the ILO, has opened an office in Doha to work with Qatar on migrant workers' rights. The British Government stands ready to assist and support Qatar's continued efforts to implement the ILO's recommended reforms.