Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the situation in Huwara.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out the UK's concern at the scenes of abhorrent violence in Huwarra in his statement of 26 February. The UK also condemned in the strongest terms the retaliatory incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians, and stresses the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population. As Lord Ahmad stated on 26 February, the deadly cycle of violence must end.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 126658 on Refugees: Afghanistan, how many expressions of interest have yet to be reviewed.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
FCDO launched an online system on 20 June 2022, closing on 15 August 2022, for individuals to express interest in UK resettlement under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) in its first year. Details were widely communicated and the Expression of Interest (EOI) form was translated into Dari and Pashto. The EOI form was designed to have all mandatory fields populated and could not be submitted with missing information. FCDO began processing EOIs on 21 June 2022. We are assessing eligibility and notifying those who submitted an EOI of the outcome. We will update Parliament on numbers once all EOI processing is complete and we have assured data to share.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 126658 on Refugees: Afghanistan, how many of the 11,400 expressions of interest were rejected because of (a) ineligibility and (b) information was missing from the form; and whether applicants whose forms were missing information were given the opportunity to clarify and resubmit their applications.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
FCDO launched an online system on 20 June 2022, closing on 15 August 2022, for individuals to express interest in UK resettlement under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) in its first year. Details were widely communicated and the Expression of Interest (EOI) form was translated into Dari and Pashto. The EOI form was designed to have all mandatory fields populated and could not be submitted with missing information. FCDO began processing EOIs on 21 June 2022. We are assessing eligibility and notifying those who submitted an EOI of the outcome. We will update Parliament on numbers once all EOI processing is complete and we have assured data to share.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 126658 on Refugees: Afghanistan, when her Department began reviewing expressions of interest.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
FCDO launched an online system on 20 June 2022, closing on 15 August 2022, for individuals to express interest in UK resettlement under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) in its first year. Details were widely communicated and the Expression of Interest (EOI) form was translated into Dari and Pashto. The EOI form was designed to have all mandatory fields populated and could not be submitted with missing information. FCDO began processing EOIs on 21 June 2022. We are assessing eligibility and notifying those who submitted an EOI of the outcome. We will update Parliament on numbers once all EOI processing is complete and we have assured data to share.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 his Israeli counterpart on the situation in Jenin.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out on 26 January 2023 that Israel has a right to self-defence but security operations must be in line with international law. Where security measures are required, we encourage Israel to deploy these in a way which minimises tension and the use of appropriate force. In instances where there have been accusations of excessive use of force, we advocate for swift, transparent investigations. We will continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly the need to protect children, and urge restraint in the use of live fire.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the situation in Jenin.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out on 26 January 2023 that Israel has a right to self-defence but security operations must be in line with international law. Where security measures are required, we encourage Israel to deploy these in a way which minimises tension and the use of appropriate force. In instances where there have been accusations of excessive use of force, we advocate for swift, transparent investigations. We will continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly the need to protect children, and urge restraint in the use of live fire.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many young people aged eighteen or younger have undertaken work experience in her Department in the last 12 months; and what proportion of those young people were (a) girls and (b) boys from state schools.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No young people aged eighteen or younger have undertaken work experience in the FCDO's UK offices in the last 12 months.
The information on work experience undertaken in the FCDO's Overseas Posts is not readily available/held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has plans to establish the UK's consular presence in Afghanistan again; and whether she has plans to evacuate vulnerable Afghans without having a consular presence in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We intend to establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul when the security and political situation in the country allows and are coordinating this effort with allies. Where Afghan nationals have been approved for relocation, we are continuing to support them to come to the UK.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the (a) Federation of Small Businesses and (b) British Chambers of Commerce on the level of preparedness of small and occasional importers of the changes to import processes effective from 1 January 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Ministers and officials regularly meet with organisations that represent SMEs, such as the Federation of Small Businesses and British Chambers of Commerce, to discuss a wide range of issues including the readiness of their members for the introduction of border import processes.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of awareness amongst small and medium sized enterprises of the changes to import processes effective from 1 January 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Ministers and officials regularly meet with organisations that represent SMEs, such as the Federation of Small Businesses and British Chambers of Commerce, to discuss a wide range of issues including the readiness of their members for the introduction of border import processes.