Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 encourage the Government of Morocco to secure peace in Western Sahara.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara and are in regular contact with the parties, including the Government of Morocco. We are also in close contact with the UN, both in New York and in the region. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process. We strongly support the UN Secretary General's efforts to appoint a Personal Envoy as soon as possible.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will propose a motion to the United Nations Security Council requesting the United Nations Secretary-General appoint a Personal Envoy to Western Sahara.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara and are in regular contact with the parties, including the Government of Morocco. We are also in close contact with the UN, both in New York and in the region. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process. We strongly support the UN Secretary General's efforts to appoint a Personal Envoy as soon as possible.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the mechanisms in the UK-Morocco association agreement to support a peaceful solution to the Western Sahara conflict.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK supports UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. We have regular exchanges with the parties to the Western Sahara dispute, including Morocco. Association Agreements, including the UK-Morocco Association Agreement, include provisions for political dialogue.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on the return of the detained British national Anoosheh Ashoori to the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government remains extremely concerned about all dual British nationals detained in Iran, including Anoosheh Ashoori. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and therefore does not permit access to British-Iranian detainees. We continue to urge the Iranian Government to immediately release all British-Iranian nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran to enable them to return to their families in the UK. The welfare of British-Iranian citizens in Iran is also of paramount importance, and we call on Iran to uphold its commitments under international law to treat all detainees in line with international standards. We have continued to raise the cases of British-Iranian nationals detained in Iran at the most senior levels, and discuss them at every opportunity with our Iranian counterparts.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to ensure that UK offshore sailors visiting the EU will be able to (a) stay in the EU for 180 consecutive days a year and (b) receive equal treatment to EU national visiting the UK for the same period of time; and what assessment he has made of the effect on offshore sailors of the differential arrangements that will potentially apply at the end of the transition period.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has discussed mobility arrangements across a number of areas as part of negotiations on our future relationship with the EU. The EU has already legislated such that UK nationals will not need a visa when travelling to the Schengen area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This will apply from the end of the transition period to all UK nationals travelling to and within the Schengen area for purposes such as tourism. This is the standard length of stay that the EU provides to the nationals of eligible third countries that offer visa-free travel access for EU citizens, in line with existing EU legislation.
As things stand, stays beyond the EU's 90/180 day visa-free allocation from 1 January 2021 onwards will be for individual Member States to decide and implement through domestic entry rules and visa arrangements for non-EU citizens. UK nationals will need to discuss the specifics of their situation with the relevant Member State authorities and should be prepared to provide any extra documentation that may be required. Under the UK's new immigration system, EU citizens will be treated as non-visa nationals for the purposes of tourism after the end of the transition period. EU citizens will be able to come to the UK as visitors for six months without the need to obtain a visa. This length of stay is the standard visitor provision for the nationals of all other non-visa countries.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 UK aid reaches the most vulnerable people during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COVID-19 is a compound and protracted crisis, where the impacts on health, economies, food security, stability and society will hit the world's poorest and most fragile countries hardest. As a leading donor to the global COVID-19 response and one of the biggest humanitarian donors globally, we are ensuring that our support goes to those who need it the most, including refugees and other forcibly displaced populations.
We have so far pledged up to £790 million of UK aid to counter the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, and to further the search for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. In addition, we have pivoted over 200 bilateral programmes towards addressing direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 response.
We are paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable. Our funding for UNHCR is focused on supporting refugees. Our support to UNFPA and UNICEF will protect the rights of women and girls, including addressing gender-based violence and ensuring continued access to sexual and reproductive health care. We have also recently announced a package of £119 million to provide relief to over six million people and help prevent famine in countries hit by conflict and COVID-19.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of discrimination against religious minorities on the distribution of UK aid.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government works to ensure that recipients of UK Aid, including minority religious communities, are not discriminated against because of their faith. The UK is committed to delivering its aid according to internationally-recognised humanitarian principles. These principles ensure that humanitarian assistance is delivered to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. This includes minority religious communities, who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.
The FCDO's use of country context analysis has increased the understanding of how religious dynamics and religious groups are factored into all of our country programmes. The FCDO undertakes interdisciplinary analysis of a country's politics, society, state and economy to identify the most significant problems that hinder development and the main entry points and opportunities to create change. There is a strong emphasis on how politics, security, and demographics interact with economic growth and human development. This includes the role of religion and discrimination of religious minorities.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure delivery on the aims of the Strategic Vision for Gender Equality.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Advancing gender equality and women's rights are a core part of the UK Government's mission, and Global Britain's role as a force for good in the world, including fulfilling every girl's right to 12 years of quality education. The Government remains steadfast in its commitment to this agenda.
Substantial progress has been made since the launch of the Strategic Vision in 2018. Highlights include announcing the biggest ever donor commitment to support and accelerate the Africa-led movement to end female genital mutilation (£50 million), securing unilateral agreement by the 53 Commonwealth Leaders to work to ensure 12 years of quality education for all girls by 2030, and generating world-leading evidence on how to drive down global rates of violence against women and girls through our What Works to Prevent Violence programme. Between 2019-20 alone UKaid supported 25.4 million women to access modern methods of family planning, helping to save thousands of lives.
As part of the launch of the new FCDO, we will refresh and build on existing strategies, as well as develop new approaches, but we do not see the core ambitions of the Strategic Vision for Gender Equality changing.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on (a) Mohammed Ramadhan, (b) Hussain Moosa and (c) other prisoners who have been sentenced to death in Bahrain.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are concerned by the death sentences handed to Mohammed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa. We continue to raise both cases at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. The Bahraini Government is fully aware that the UK opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We continue to monitor their case, as it is taken to the Court of Cassation for final review.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that journalists' trade unions internationally are (a) consulted on the UK's media freedom campaign, and (b) invited to participate in his Department's London conference on media freedom in July 2019.
Answered by Mark Field
We are commited to and are in the process of consulting very widely with all relevant civil society bodies, including journalists' trade unions, on the design of our media freedom campaign and the July conference. We encourage all interested parties to get in touch with us.