Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US Administration on the decision to close the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The US' decision to close the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington is a matter for the US authorities.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 support the work of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in examining recent events in the West Bank and Gaza.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The International Criminal Court Prosecutor has been conducting a Preliminary Examination into the situation in Palestine since 2015. We respect her independence in this matter.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 US counterpart on the (a) definition and (b) status of refugees in the Middle East.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign Secretary maintains a regular dialogue with his US counterpart on Middle East issues, and discussed the US plan to withdraw funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) with the Special Advisor to the US President, Jared Kushner, on 22 August. I also discussed these concerns with the US President’s Middle East Envoy, Jason Greenblatt, on 28 September. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials routinely discuss with their US counterparts the status of refugees in the Middle East. The UK is clear that there needs to be a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for Palestinian refugees.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the US Administration’s relationship with the International Criminal Court on the work of that institution; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Field
On 10 September US National Security Advisor, John Bolton delivered a speech concerning the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Preliminary Examination into the situation of Afghanistan. On 12 September the ICC issued a statement saying it will continue its independent and impartial work, undeterred. The UK has always been clear that the ICC can play an important role in ending impunity for the most serious international crimes. It has our full support in pursuing the mandate it was given under Rome Statute.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the Government of Israel on the demolition order against Khan al Ahmar village in the West Bank since the beginning of September; and (a) on what dates and (b) to whom those representations were made.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I raised our concerns about the proposed demolition of Khan al-Ahmar with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 11 October. Our Ambassador to Israel raised the issue with the Israeli authorities on 3 October. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised our concerns with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 6 September.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of violence carried out by settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank; and what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on that violence.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is concerned by reports that settler violence has increased in 2018 compared to 2017. The Government condemns any violence by settlers against Palestinians. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the issue of settler violence with the Israeli authorities on 22 May 2018. We welcome the efforts of Israeli authorities to tackle settler violence, and urge thorough investigation of every instance to bring those responsible to justice. We have also stressed the importance of Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps is he taking to obtain a full response from the Government of Israel that the investigation into that country’s use of force against demonstrators in Gaza includes an independent element; and what steps he is taking to promote accountability for potential violations of international law should a suitable independent element not be found.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Prime Minster stressed the need for Israel to carry out a transparent, independent inquiry into recent protests in Gaza when she met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in London on 6 June. We have called for this investigation to include international members.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the creation of the Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary for tackling (a) over-fishing, (b) plastic pollution and (c) climate change.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is a global leader on Antarctic marine protection issues, including within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). At its next meeting in October, CCAMLR will consider UK co-sponsored proposals for establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the East Antarctic and Weddell Sea. CCAMLR ensures that fish stocks in the Southern Ocean are sustainably managed, as well as having committed to the development of a network of MPAs. There is currently no commercial fishing activity in the Weddell Sea; only small-scale, fully monitored, research fishing activities. Ocean plastic pollution is a global problem which the UK Government is actively working to reduce. Plastic pollution is monitored at a number of stations around Antarctica and through dedicated surveys. Plastic pollution is mainly arriving in Antarctica from outside of the region. Nevertheless, in addition to strict marine pollution regulations around Antarctica, UK flagged fishing vessels operating within the CCAMLR Convention Area have implemented measures to reduce or eliminate plastic microbeads from waste water. While MPAs will not tackle global climate change, one of the objectives for the Weddell Sea MPA proposal is to establish scientific reference areas to monitor the effects of climate change and to study, in particular, representative, rare, unique and/or endemic examples of marine ecosystems, as well as biodiversity and habitats.