Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he is taking steps to ensure that Governments overseas put in place covid-19 responses that respect (a) human rights, (b) international law and (c) the principles of (i) legality, (ii) necessity and (iii) proportionality.

As Parliament rose earlier than planned and the first day for answer of this PQ was after the Easter recess, due to the pace of developments during the COVID-19 crisis, I submitted a response by email on 7 April, with the following response. The Table Office have agreed this approach.

The UK is committed to protecting and promoting human rights throughout the world. We are engaging extensively with a range of international partners including the G7 and G20 to support an effective global response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We continue to encourage all countries to follow World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and to ensure that all responses to the Covid-19 outbreak comply with international human rights law.

In his statement after the G7 meeting of 25 March, the Foreign Secretary said that G7 partners had agreed to work together to intensify international co-operation to support vulnerable countries. The UK has announced up to £241 million of UK aid funding to support the global efforts to combat the outbreak of Covid-19.