Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) security and (b) the risk of human rights abuses in the Sahel of (i) the end of UK participation in Operation Barkhane and (ii) any end to UK participation in UN MINUSMA.

The UK currently deploys 300 troops to the UN Peacekeeping Mission MINUSMA. Forming a Long-Range Reconnaissance Group, they support MINUSMA's objectives of helping implement Mali's Peace Agreement and protecting civilians. Separately, we also deploy four Chinook helicopters with around 100 troops providing logistical support to the French counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane. We have been part of Operation BARKHANE since July 2018. As the French mission in Mali concludes, so will the UK's contribution to it. We are reviewing our deployment to MINUSMA. I have expressed concern about the increasing restrictions on UN Peacekeeping and international forces in Mali, and have urged all partners to continue working together to protect and support a better future for the Malian people.