Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of recent reports of a weapons cache found by the Israel Defense Forces at the maternity ward at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. The UK is aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes.
All parties must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. All possible measures must be taken to ensure the safety of medical personnel and facilities.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of recent reports of a weapons cache found by the Israel Defense Forces at the MRI centre at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. The UK is aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes.
All parties must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. All possible measures must be taken to ensure the safety of medical personnel and facilities.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 potential merits of establishing with the US Administration an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK government shares the objective of increasing understanding and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. In support of this, we continue to fund peacebuilding projects focused on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. US planning for the International Fund is at a very early stage and they have not yet approached us to discuss it. Once more information is available, we will consider options for collaboration
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what factors he will assess to reach a decision on whether to remove travel advice relating specifically to cruises in order to bring cruises under global travel advice in line with other types of transport.
Answered by Nigel Adams
he Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against international cruising informed by public health risk assessments. This advice is kept under continuous review. The risk assessments to inform travel advice from Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care are not published separately.
National restrictions on international travel remain in place, including only permitting travel abroad for a limited number of reasons set out in law. Holiday travel is not included.
The FCDO remains fully committed to working closely with the Department for Transport and key industry leaders, informed by the changing public health situation during this pandemic to agree on the steps required to restart international cruises safely.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report of 24 December 2020 by Christian Solidarity Worldwide entitled Church leaders abducted amid renewed violence in Kaduna state, what recent assessment his Department has made of the security situation in Nigeria; and what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports of increased communications and co-ordination between (a) terrorist factions from the north east and (b) rural banditry in the north west of that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
For over a decade, terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa, have caused immense suffering to local communities, predominantly in North East Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad Basin region. We are aware that Boko Haram and other terrorist groups have been attempting to develop a presence in North West Nigeria for many years and have claimed responsibility for a number of incidents in the region. We are also aware that Boko Haram have claimed responsibility for attacks they have not directly conducted. We continue to monitor developments closely and are committed to helping Nigeria tackle the threat posed by the terrorist groups in North East Nigeria. We are providing a comprehensive package of humanitarian and stabilisation assistance to Nigeria to help tackle the threat and support affected communities.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 implications for his policies of (a) the attack on 2 December 2020 on the Christ Apostolic Church near Abeokuta in Ogun state and (b) other recent attacks on Christian communities by Fulani assailants in southern Nigeria.
Answered by James Duddridge
The FCDO condemns all attacks on places of worship including these recent attacks in southern Nigeria. We continue to encourage the Government of Nigeria to take urgent action to protect all those at risk of inter-communal violence, to bring perpetrators to justice, and to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of such violence and meet the needs of all communities. The FCDO is supporting this through the development of a new conflict, security and justice programme, which aims to reduce levels of inter-communal violence by building more effective conflict-management systems.