Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 10 May 2018 from the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence): level of support.
Answered by Alistair Burt
A response was sent on 6 June, five working days before the 20 day target as published in the Cabinet Office annual correspondence report.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the additional funding required by his Department over the next two years to prepare effectively for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) is making £3 billion of additional funding available over the next two years - £1.5 billion in both 18/19 and 19/20 – so that departments and the Devolved Administrations can continue to prepare effectively for Brexit. We are currently working with HMT and the Department for Exiting the European Union to establish what we need to prepare effectively, and what additional funding should be supplied – HMT will aim to agree 2018/19 allocations in early 2018.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many Syrians have been disappeared by the Assad regime; and what proportion of those people are children.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Due to the Asad regime's refusal to allow impartial monitoring of its detention centres, it is not possible to give an exact figure for the number of people who have been disappeared. Human rights groups estimate that tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of men, women, and children have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since the war began – the vast majority of them at the hands of the regime. The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria has documented the regime's use of 'massive and systematised' violence against political detainees, and stated that the regime's use of disappearance, torture, rape and sexual violence amount to crimes against humanity.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
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 ensure that members of the Assad regime who have committed war crimes and human rights abuses are held to account.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is committed to ensuring that those responsible for violations of international law and human rights abuses in Syria are held to account. We have been at the forefront of international action. The UK co-sponsored a United Nations General Assembly resolution establishing a new International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to support the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes. The UK strongly supports the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry whose reports have shone a light on the most serious human rights violations in the Syrian conflict. In partnership with other donor countries, we are funding the collection of documentary evidence for use in any legal procedures in the future. All available evidence shows the Asad regime's responsibilty for the great majority of offences.