Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Gaza in relation to recent locally-transmitted cases of covid-19.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), which has now reached over 30,000 (as of 6 September). The capacity of the Palestinian health system, especially in Gaza, to cope with the increase in COVID-19 cases has been severely impaired by longstanding Israeli movement and access restrictions and shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK's recent £840,000 funding contribution has enabled the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. The Foreign Secretary also recently announced a further £2.7 million funding to UN agencies to provide food assistance, medical supplies and personal protection for the most vulnerable Palestinians.
In addition to our commitment to funding, our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to improve conditions in Gaza.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the health system in Gaza to cope with the recent increase in locally-transmitted covid-19 cases.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), which has now reached over 30,000 (as of 6 September). The capacity of the Palestinian health system, especially in Gaza, to cope with the increase in COVID-19 cases has been severely impaired by longstanding Israeli movement and access restrictions and shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK's recent £840,000 funding contribution has enabled the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. The Foreign Secretary also recently announced a further £2.7 million funding to UN agencies to provide food assistance, medical supplies and personal protection for the most vulnerable Palestinians.
In addition to our commitment to funding, our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to improve conditions in Gaza.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the covid-19 response in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), which has now reached over 30,000 (as of 6 September). The capacity of the Palestinian health system, especially in Gaza, to cope with the increase in COVID-19 cases has been severely impaired by longstanding Israeli movement and access restrictions and shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK's recent £840,000 funding contribution has enabled the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. The Foreign Secretary also recently announced a further £2.7 million funding to UN agencies to provide food assistance, medical supplies and personal protection for the most vulnerable Palestinians.
In addition to our commitment to funding, our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to improve conditions in Gaza.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that no products made from human hair taken from the Uighur population in Xinjiang, China are (a) imported and (b) sold within the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
HMG advises in our Overseas Business Risk Guidance that all businesses involved in investing in Xinjiang or with parts of their supply chains, including businesses that import goods from Xinjiang, should consider conducting appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to be supporting, any human rights violations or abuses. We keep our advice to UK business under review, working closely with relevant departments across government.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the size of the Uighur population in Xinjiang region for each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Official figures from the Chinese Government state that, in 2018, the population of Xinjiang was approximately 24.9 million. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not produce its own population statistics for the region.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the number of detention camps in Xinjiang region, China where Uighurs and other minority communities are allegedly being held.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Open source reports indicate that there may be over 250 detention camps in Xinjiang. We judge that at least one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been extra-judicially detained in these camps.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Chinese counterpart on the detention and repression of the Uighur people in Xinjiang region.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in "political re-education camps", systematic restrictions on Uyghur culture and the practice of Islam, and extensive and invasive surveillance targeting minorities.
On 28 July, the Foreign Secretary raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi. On 30 June, the UK read out a formal statement on behalf of 28 countries at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council highlighting arbitrary detention, widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly those targeting Uyghurs and other minorities, and urging China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights meaningful access to Xinjiang. We will continue to raise our concerns with China bilaterally, and through the UN working with international partners.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what provisions he has made to freeze individual Chinese assets if they have played a role in the repression of the Uighur minority population; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
On 6 July, the UK Government established the Global Human Rights ('Magnitsky') sanctions regime by laying regulations in Parliament. This sanctions regime allows for asset freezes and travel bans on targeted individuals and organisations. It is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated under the sanctions regime in the future, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. We will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he plans to take to hold the Myanmar military to account for the killing and maiming of children and for sexual violence against them as identified in the UN Secretary-General's Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK will continue to shine a spotlight on gross human rights violations committed by the Myanmar Military across the country. This includes grave violations against children. On 23 June, I [Minister Adams] spoke to the Myanmar Minister for International Cooperation. I encouraged Myanmar to continue to engage with the International Court of Justice process, and highlighted the need for dialogue to de - escalate the conflict in Rakhine which has seen a significant increase in crimes against children in the first half of this year. On 6 July, the UK's Global Human Rights sanction regime (GHR) listed the Myanmar military's Commander-in-Chief and Deputy Commander-in-Chief in the first tranche of listings, for overseeing the systematic and brutal violence against the Rohingya and other minorities, as set out in the Independent Fact Finding Mission Report. This is in addition to the sanctions which the UK secured through the EU, against 14 members of the Myanmar military responsible for serious human rights violations. The UK led the international effort to establish the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM), which collects and preserves evidence for use in future domestic or international accountability processes.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made on the Rohingya refugees currently still stranded at sea in the Bay of Bengal.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We continue to monitor the extremely concerning reports of hundreds of Rohingya still at sea in the Bay of Bengal. We continue to engage with the Government of Bangladesh, other countries in the region, UN agencies and the international community to support the safety and well-being of all Rohingya refugees. The UK supports the UN's call for a regional effort to ensure the safety of these vulnerable refugees.
The Minister of State for South Asia, Lord Ahmad, has raised the issue of Rohingya refugees stranded at sea with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister and the Bangladesh High Commissioner in London, and the British High Commission in Dhaka have raised this matter with the Government of Bangladesh. Officials from the British Embassy in Bangkok have discussed with the Thai Government the importance of the provision of humanitarian assistance to Rohingyas aboard vessels that enter Thai waters. Our High Commission in Kuala Lumpur continues to raise our concerns about the situation of the Rohingya community with the Malaysian Government. We continue to urge the Governments of Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and other governments in the region to assist boats carrying Rohingya refugees to land. The UK is committed to protecting the Rohingya community, some of the world's most vulnerable people.