Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received any reports on recent court appearances by Hamed bin Haydara in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are monitoring the case of Hamed bin Haydara, and we understand the appeal against his death sentence is ongoing. We strongly condemn the death sentence and the continued persecution of the Baha'i in Yemen for their religious beliefs. We meet often with the Baha'i representatives in London who keep us updated on the situation. We call on the parties to the conflict to respect the human rights of all Yemenis.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to make representations to his Iranian counterpart on the freedom of religion or belief for (a) Baha’is and (b) Christians in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Field
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 15 January 2019 (PQ 206031). In addition, at the Human Rights Council in March 2018, the UK strongly supported the renewal of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran. We called on Iran to allow the UN Special Rapporteur access to the country so that he can carry out his mandate.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 World Health Organisation on (a) Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly as an observer this year and (b) Taiwan's participation in technical meetings of the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Mark Field
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to support the Department for Health in lobbying for Taiwan’s participation in World Health Organisation (WHO) meetings. Her Majesty's Government is working with likeminded countries to lobby the WHO at official level to issue an invitation to Taiwan to observe the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May. The UK continues to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite and where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution. The UK believes the WHA and the related technical meetings of the WHO meet these criteria.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the UK will ratify the Republic of North Macedonia's accession to NATO; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We welcome the signature of the NATO Accession Protocol for Macedonia, which took place on 6 February in Brussels. We will shortly be taking forward the procedure for UK ratification. This will involve laying the Accession Protocol before Parliament for 21 sitting days' scrutiny under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Once this process is complete, and provided there are no objections, the UK can proceed to the next stage by depositing its instrument of ratification. I will make a formal written statement to Parliament regarding the new constitutional name - the Republic of North Macedonia.