Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff in his Department are responsible for overseeing sanctions on sources of (a) revenue and (b) arms for the Burmese Military.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Sanctions Directorate has over 100 permanent staff delivering our global sanctions response. A large part of that figure includes staff that work flexibly across the all the UK's sanctions regimes, including Myanmar sanctions. This number does not include Myanmar-focused policy officials working on our wider strategy to constrain the regime's ability to access arms and finance which facilitate their campaign against the civilian population.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his US counterpart on the potential merits of imposing (a) sanctions and (b) other non-sanction measures against Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to help prevent potential access to that company's gas revenue by the Myanmar military.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will continue to work closely with international partners, including the US, EU, Canada and Australia, to take robust action to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms, and equipment. The UK is committed to targeted sanctions, which directly impact the military without harming the wider population. This will be a key consideration for any future designations. It would be inappropriate to speculate on future targets by either ourselves or our partners.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she is taking steps to deport the Myanmar military attache loyal to the Burmese military regime from the UK.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK strongly condemns the military coup and the violence against the people of Myanmar. Any decision to declare a foreign diplomat "persona non grata" under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations would need careful consideration in view of the wider implications of such a decision.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Government funding is currently provided to Myanmar civil society organisations documenting Human Rights violations; and if she will increase funding to the human rights defenders and civil society organisations in Myanmar that are collecting evidence of the Myanmar military activities.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Since the military coup in February 2021 the UK has been working to protect the civic space, human rights and media freedom. This includes supporting human rights organisations to gather evidence of human rights violations across Myanmar, including around gender-based violence, as well as emergency funding to help journalists and media organisations continue their work in Myanmar. This year, the UK has provided over £1.5 million on human rights monitoring. This includes establishing Myanmar Witness; a human rights monitoring mechanism which collects and verifies open-source information on serious human rights violations and ensures there is a spotlight on the military's actions.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress the Government has made on meeting its target of donating 100 million covid-19 vaccines by the end of June 2022; and when that target will be met.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK has been a world leader in ensuring developing countries can access vaccines, through our early support to the COVAX scheme and commitment to donate surplus vaccines. The Prime Minister has been clear that no one is safe until we are all safe.
The UK has fulfilled its pledge to donate 30 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of 2021, with 25.4 million of these doses already deployed to countries in need. We are managing our vaccine supply so that all vaccines are either used as quickly as possible in our domestic programme or shared internationally. Decisions on vaccine donations will continue to depend on supply chain reliability, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice and the ability of countries to absorb and deploy vaccines.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish (a) how many UK missions overseas are located in premises owned by the UK Government and (b) a list of those missions.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently owns 98 UK missions overseas. The number includes British Embassies, High Commissions, Deputy High Commissions and Consulates. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes a list of locations where there are HMG Overseas Missions that is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK ambassadors are (a) Black, Asian and minority ethnic and (b) to which countries they are ambassadors to.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As of 31 March 2021, 5% of FCDO Heads of Missions, Heads of Posts and Governors declared an ethnicity as Black, Asian or minority ethnic. Further details, including on countries where Heads of Missions, Posts and Governors serve, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations.
As part of the FCDO's Inclusion Framework, the Achieving Potential pillar actively supports all staff to achieve their potential. This supports the FCDO's objectives, taking personal action to address barriers faced by groups and individuals and demonstrate all staff are valued for their contributions. The FCDO continues to make progress developing the talent pipeline and supporting participation from under-represented groups in Civil Service Talent Schemes.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, (a) how many UK ambassadors are women and (b) to which countries are they ambassadors.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As of 31 March 2021, 33% of Heads of Missions, Heads of Posts and Governors were women. Further details, including on countries where Heads of Missions, Posts and Governors serve, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations.
As part of the FCDO's Inclusion Framework, the Achieving Potential pillar actively supports all staff to achieve their potential. This supports the FCDO's objectives, taking personal action to address barriers faced by groups and individuals and demonstrate all staff are valued for their contributions. The FCDO continues to make progress developing the talent pipeline and supporting participation from under-represented groups in Civil Service Talent Schemes.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last met with the High Commissioner of India to the UK.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Engagement with the High Commissioner of India to the UK is primarily led at Ministerial level by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia. Lord Ahmad last met the High Commissioner on 13 October. The Foreign Secretary maintains regular engagement with her Government of India counterpart, the External Affairs Minister.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Uganda on (a) the arrest of opposition party leaders, (b) alleged vote rigging and (c) the ensuing violence in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
I spoke to Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa on 12 January, ahead of the elections in Uganda on 14 January, to express the importance of British officials being accredited as observers. We deployed 51 Election Observers across Uganda on election day we have been consulting with the diplomatic community, civil society actors, other international observers, and the Government of Uganda to ensure we have a comprehensive and accurate picture of the elections. We have urged the Government of Uganda to respond to the concerns raised on the overall political climate surrounding the elections, which I set out in my statement of 17 January. The treatment of opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi is unacceptable and I publicly expressed my concerns about this in my tweet of 19 January. Our High Commissioner in Kampala pressed this issue with the Ugandan authorities and I welcome the High Court of Uganda's decision of 25 January that the detention of Robert Kyagulanyi was unconstitutional and unlawful and that these restrictions have been lifted. The British High Commission Kampala pressed the Ugandan authorities to end these unacceptable restrictions on his liberty. Our High Commissioner in Kampala continues to meet political actors from all parties and met Robert Kyagulanyi on 27 January 2021. The High Commissioner urged Kyagulanyi and all parties to reject violence, engage in peaceful dialogue and follow due process to address any electoral irregularities.