Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to resettle child refugees in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Child refugees and their families are being resettled across the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme. We continue to work with local authorities and devolved administrations to ensure reception arrangements, accommodation and appropriate care arrangements are in place to meet our commitments.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to meet with Ministers of the Scottish Government.
Answered by Sarah Newton
It is important that the Home Office engages with the Scottish Government, and Ministers will be meeting in the coming months. The department does not however publish the arrangements for such meetings in advance.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review immigration rules for spouse visas.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Supreme Court endorsed our approach in setting a minimum income threshold for sponsoring a spouse visa in its judgment in MM (Lebanon) & Others on 22 February 2017.
This requirement prevents burdens on the taxpayer and ensures migrant families can integrate into our communities. We are carefully considering what the Court has said in relation to cases involving children and to exceptional cases where the income threshold has not been met.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Egypt on alleged human rights abuses in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Following my response of 24 February, the Foreign Secretary raised human rights concerns with Egypt's President Sisi during his visit to Cairo on 25 February, emphasising the importance of a free and open society. The Foreign Secretary also met human rights defenders and civil society activists to gain a better understanding of the human rights situation in Egypt and hear their concerns.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and urge the Egyptian Government to implement the human rights provisions contained in the constitution.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the treatment of human rights activists in that country.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 February 2017 (PQ 63917).
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the political situation in Syria.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We maintain frequent Ministerial contact with international counterparts on Syria. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), regularly discusses Syria with his counterparts, including at the monthly EU Foreign Affairs Council. The Foreign Secretary's recent conversations have covered the situation in Aleppo; humanitarian access; support for the Syrian opposition including the Higher Negotiations Committee; the current ceasefire and its implementation; and resumption of the UN-led political process, including the Geneva talks due to start this month.
The Foreign Secretary also discusses Syria bilaterally in meetings in the UK and when he travels. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has discussed the political situation in Syria during a number of recent meetings and overseas visits, including to the US and Turkey.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 the Government of Egypt on alleged human rights abuses in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Prime Minister raised human rights concerns with Egypt's President Sisi at their meeting in September 2016. Ministers and senior officials regularly raise our concerns with the Egyptian authorities in both London and Cairo.
We are concerned about the decreasing space for civil society to operate in Egypt. I raised our concerns about the arrest of a human rights defender with the Egyptian Ambassador when we met on 8 December and reiterated concerns about a proposed new law on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
More recently, on 10 February, I made a statement about the closure of the Nadeem Centre, which was a step in the wrong direction.
We have also raised our concerns about human rights at the UN. During the session of the UN's Human Rights Council in September, the UK highlighted restrictions on civil society and legal action against NGOs in Egypt. In the same statement, we raised our concerns about reports of torture, enforced disappearances and police abuses in the country.
We will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt closely, and to urge the Egyptian government to implement the human rights provisions contained in its constitution.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 Chinese counterpart on the treatment of human rights activists in that country.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Ministers regularly raise the treatment of human rights activists directly with the Chinese authorities.
I discussed human rights, including our concerns about human rights lawyers and activists, with the Chinese Assistant Minister for Europe, Liu Haixing on 16 February during my visit to China. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), also raised human rights issues with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi at the UK/China Strategic dialogue on 20 December 2016. We discussed the full range of our human rights concerns and individual cases directly with the Chinese authorities at the latest round of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue, which I opened on 27 October 2016.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is providing to EU accession countries to help them become full EU member states.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK will continue to support countries committed to the accession process, through diplomatic engagement and technical assistance, in meeting the necessary requirements and to encourage cooperation on security, counter-terrorism and migration.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of his Department's spending has contributed towards the UK's Official Development Assistance total in 2016-17.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend is reported on a calendar year basis. The Department For International Development’s Annual ‘Statistics for International Development’ published in November 2016 shows that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spent 3.2% of total UK ODA in 2015; £391m of the £12,138m total. The FCO’s ODA allocation for FY 2016-17 is £466m.