Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department advised the Northern Ireland Executive on human rights concerns and other sensitivities for Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas Ltd undertaking a contract for Bahrain's prison system.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues to assist Bahrain in their reform agenda including by working with the Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas programme, whose aims are to assist the Government of Bahrain to bring its justice system into compliance with international standards. The UK Government continues to have frank discussions with the Government of Bahrain about our concerns on human rights cases. We continue to encourage the Bahraini authorities to respect the rights of all its citizens and we have encouraged them to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression most recently at the UN Human Rights Commission meeting in September.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has received representations from Northern Ireland authorities on potential human rights, reputational implications and other concerns for the Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas Ltd undertaking a contract to work for the Bahraini prison system.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues to assist Bahrain in their reform agenda including by working with the Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas programme whose aims are to assist the Government of Bahrain to bring its justice system into compliance with international standards. We enjoy a close relationship with the Devolved Administrations and would certainly work with the Northern Ireland authorities on any issue.
The UK Government continues to have frank discussions with the Government of Bahrain at all levels about our concerns on some cases brought against political opposition members and human rights activists.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 Reprieve report, entitled Belfast to Bahrain: the Torture Trail and its findings of work carried out by Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas Ltd in Bahrain.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues to assist Bahrain in their reform agenda including by working with the Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas (NICO) programme. Our and NICO's aims are to assist the Government of Bahrain to bring its justice system into compliance with international standards. All of NICO's work in Bahrain is regularly monitored and reviewed and continues to comply with rigorous UK human rights standards, which are in line with international human rights law. The impact of their work has been and continues to be positive.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of all of his Department's assessments of security contracts funded by his Department in Bahrain.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides updates on its programme work in its annual Human Rights reports.
All FCO programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with Her Majesty's Government's Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specifically designed to assist the Government of Bahrain improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens are known to have been (a) detained and (b) delayed when entering Israel in the past 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
According to Israeli figures 129 000 British nationals have visited Israel since 1 January 2016, and 50 British nationals have been refused entry into Israel through Ben-Gurion Airport. Of these, 25 sought assistance from the British Embassy. A further 65 British nationals have been refused entry at the Allenby Bridge.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens held in Israel's airport detention facilities have been provided with consular assistance by the UK embassy in Tel Aviv in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Since January 2016, 25 British nationals who have been detained at Ben-Gurion Airport have requested consular assistance from the UK Embassy.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens have raised the issue of poor treatment by Israeli authorities at border crossings and entry points with the (a) UK Government, (b) embassy in Tel Aviv and (c) consulates in Jerusalem and Ramallah in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Since January 2016, 15 British nationals have alleged poor treatment by Israeli authorities at border crossings.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many people with dual Palestinian and British citizenship have been (a) refused entry to, (b) detained by and (c) deported by Israel in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Palestinians are not allowed to enter Israel through Ben-Gurion Airport. Dual British/Palestinian nationals enter on their Palestinian documents through Allenby Bridge. We are not aware of any Dual nationals who have been refused entry.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens have been deported by Israel after initially being granted entry to the state in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are not aware of any British nationals that have been deported after being allowed entry, with the exception of people who have overstayed their visa.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens are known to have been detained, interrogated and subsequently denied entry by Israel in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
According to Israeli figures 129 000 British nationals have visited Israel since 1 January 2016, and 50 British nationals have been refused entry into Israel through Ben-Gurion Airport. Of these, 25 sought assistance from the British Embassy. A further 65 British nationals have been refused entry at the Allenby Bridge.