Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2024 to Question 23469 on Afghanistan: Non-governmental Organisations, when a Minister from his Department last met representatives of non-governmental organisations working in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO Ministers regularly meet NGOs. The Deputy Foreign Secretary met the Director-General of Geneva Call in March which included discussions on Afghanistan. Last month, he co-hosted a biannual meeting with the CEOs of BOND member NGOs, many of whom work in Afghanistan. UK officials regularly meet NGO partners to discuss the operating context in Afghanistan and to ensure our support is as effective as possible. This includes a regular meeting with NGOs chaired by our Special Representative for Afghanistan as well as meetings organised by the FCDO in the region.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 10 January (HC Deb col 133WH) that in Afghanistan "minority groups such as the Hazara people face discrimination and attacks”, what action they are taking in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to monitor and document discrimination and abuses against Hazaras, both through the UN and other institutions, and through our own programme work. Officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials to protect religious and ethnic minorities, including Shia Muslims and Hazara communities. In December, I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] raised attacks against Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for a Minister from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to meet Hazara representatives to discuss the continuing violence and persecution facing their community in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and officials engage regularly with a range of Afghans, including Hazaras. The Government is monitoring closely attacks against Hazaras in Afghanistan, including by Daesh (Islamic State Khorasan Province), and in December I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] publicly condemned them. I have also raised attacks against Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish their latest Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability assessment on Afghanistan; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government last completed a Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) for Afghanistan in 2019: this document has not been made public, given the sensitive nature of the assessment. We continue to closely monitor the situation in country and the region, drawing on internal and external assessments and reporting. The decision to make public UK-commissioned reports and assessments on the situation in Afghanistan is made on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take steps with international partners to (a) press Pakistan to stop deportation of Afghan people and (b) develop a longer-term strategy on the situation in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is closely monitoring Pakistan's policy on the deportation of Afghans and ministers have raised it most recently with Pakistan's Minister of Human Rights and Deputy Prime Minister. We are working with a number of international partners, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the World Bank to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations with respect to those affected. Since September 2023, we have committed £18.5m to the IOM to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable returnees in Afghanistan. We are also grateful for Pakistan's continued co-operation over our Afghan resettlement schemes.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Afghanistan 2023 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, published on 23 April, in particular with regard to the targeting of Hazara community members by ISIS-K.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government welcomes the State Department's Afghanistan 2023 Human Rights Report, which sheds further light on appalling human rights abuses in Afghanistan. We are monitoring closely attacks against Hazaras in Afghanistan, including by Daesh (Islamic State Khorasan Province), and in December I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] publicly condemned them. I have also raised attacks against Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2024 to Question 23990, how many eligibility decisions have been overturned as a result of the review.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to my answer to Questions 23990 and 23497. I will update the House once the review is completed.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to paragraph 4.11 of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s report entitled UK aid’s international climate finance commitments, published on 29 February 2024, for what reason his Department has categorised 30 per cent of the funding for the Afghanistan Multi-Year Programme Phase 2 project as international climate finance.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
To recognise the work that is being undertaken to support resilience building in the most climate-vulnerable countries a fixed proportion of 30 per cent International Climate Finance will be applied to humanitarian work being carried out in countries that fall into the bottom 10 per cent in terms of recognised climate vulnerability rankings, including Afghanistan.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safe and legal routes to the UK are available for (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers as of 8 May 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We operate global refugee resettlement schemes, including the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and community sponsorship. We also run Displaced Talent Mobility Initiatives which help displaced populations to access a Skilled Worker visa.
We have country specific schemes which were established in response to international crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong.
For asylum seekers, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules that allows a person to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Those in need of immediate protection should take the fastest route to safety and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6083 on Afghanistan: Refugees, how many (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme eligible Afghan nationals classed as (i) principals and (ii) dependents are in Pakistan as of 2 May 2024.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of 2 May, the number of eligible persons in Pakistan who qualified via Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy were 127 principals and 486 dependents and the number of individuals who qualified via Afghanistan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3 were 39 principals and 166 dependents.
The government looks forward to bringing all remaining eligible individuals to the UK as soon as practicable. Since Operation Pitting we have welcomed 8,892 Afghans eligible under ARAP, and 2020 Afghans eligible under ACRS, to the UK.