Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent events in Karakalpakstan; what discussions they have had with the government of Uzbekistan (1) regarding those events, and (2) to seek a peaceful resolution.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I [Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon] was saddened by the loss of life that occurred during recent events in the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan. I understand that initially peaceful protests against plans to change Karakalpakstan's autonomous status within Uzbekistan, developed into violent unrest with casualties among civilians and law enforcement. The situation now seems calm. We have taken note of the creation of an Independent Commission under the Parliamentary Ombudsman to investigate these events.
On 7 July, I raised the unrest in Karakalpakstan with the Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister and our Ambassador and his team in Tashkent are also in contact with the Uzbek authorities. We have been clear in our communications that the right to peaceful protest and respect for media freedom should be protected. In discussion of these events in multilateral fora, we urged the Uzbek authorities to adhere to their international commitments in their response, and that due process be followed as the authorities seek to understand what happened. We will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with counterparts in Central Asia since 1 January 2022 on the security implications of the fall of the Afghan government last summer.
Answered by James Heappey
The Secretary of State has not discussed the security implications of the fall of the Afghan government with counterparts in Central Asia. I have visited Qatar, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan and have raised the matter with my counterparts. The UK continues to coordinate our response with partners in the region.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to increase trade with central Asian countries.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Fast growing economies such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan provide an abundance of opportunities for British business across a wide range of sectors.
My Department is supporting British business to grab these opportunities through trade dialogues and regular business to business exchanges, including the annual United Kingdom-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission that I co-chaired late last year in Astana.
We are working hard to remove trade barriers with Uzbekistan too.For example, an update to their Intellectual Property regime, removing barriers for British businesses could be worth over £11million per year.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people holding (a) Russian, (b) Kazakhstan, (c) Belarus, (d) Uzbekistan and (e) Turkmenistan citizenship have been sanctioned under the Magnitsky sanctions regime in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Since the UK's Global Human Rights Sanctions regime was established in July 2020, we have designated 75 individuals and 6 entities under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime. We have also designated 27 individuals under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime since it was established in April 2021. The full UK Sanctions List is available on GOV.UK website (www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list), which provides details of those individuals and entities designated under sanctions regulations made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the relationship with the government of Uzbekistan given the unfolding humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK government recognises the importance of Uzbekistan's role as a partner in the international response to the crisis in Afghanistan, including in efforts to alleviate the unfolding humanitarian situation. On 16 December 2021, the Minister for Europe and Americas, Wendy Morton MP, and I [Lord Ahmad] met Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister Gayrat Fazilov to discuss the UK-Uzbekistan bilateral relationship, including our cooperation on issues relating to Afghanistan. The Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey MP, and I [Lord Ahmad] also made visits to Uzbekistan in September. The UK recognises the role that Uzbekistan can play in supplying humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through their infrastructure hub in Termez and is encouraging UN agencies to use all available routes for humanitarian assistance. The UK has committed £2 million in aid to the World Food Programme and UNHCR for preparations in the region in the event of assistance being required in Central Asia.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) Qatar, (b) Uzbekistan, (c) Tajikistan and (d) the UAE on improving safe routes of passage from Afghanistan for refugees.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We see regional countries as vital to the overall response, including Pakistan and Iran who host 2.2 million registered Afghan refugees. The Foreign Secretary discussed the situation when she visited India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Indonesia over the autumn and Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, the Minister of State for South Asia, travelled to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in support of the resettlement process. Lord Ahmad also called on his counterparts in the region to discuss the humanitarian situation and the resettlement process.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of (1) Tajikistan, (2) Uzbekistan, and (3) Turkmenistan, about the situation in Afghanistan following the takeover by the Taliban.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I most recently visited Uzbekistan on 14 September, after also visiting Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the week of 30 August for discussions on Afghanistan. The former Foreign Secretary also had telephone conversations with the Uzbek Foreign Minister on 6 September and the Tajik Foreign Minister on 2 September. I called the Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, on 3 September, the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan on 25 August and Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan on the same day. We held discussions with counterparts on securing safe passage for those fleeing Afghanistan and advancing the government's international priorities.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to repatriate British citizens from Afghanistan.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Under Operation PITTING, our armed forces and Civil Service staff worked around the clock to evacuate around 15,000 people - including around 8,000 British Nationals. We evacuated more British nationals and their families than we previously thought were in Afghanistan. Working closely with the Government of Qatar we have supported a further 60+ British nationals and their dependents leave Kabul. Our immediate focus is on ensuring safe passage for anyone remaining in Afghanistan who is eligible to come to the UK and wishes to leave. We continue to work closely with the Qatari authorities to facilitate the evacuation of British nationals from Kabul. Rapid Deployment Teams have been sent to Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to reinforce our Embassy staff to process arrivals from Afghanistan. Teams have also deployed to Qatar and UAE to assist our operations there and we are providing consular support to British nationals who were evacuated by other allies, including via US airbases in Europe.
Asked by: Baroness D'Souza (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to develop, and (2) to build support for, a regional counter-terrorism programme in Central Asia; from where they will seek to build support for any such programme; and what assessment they have made of their ability to build any such support in the absence of cooperation with the Taliban to counter international terrorist threats from (a) Al-Qaida, (b) ISIS, and (c) related splinter groups.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We must prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a haven for terrorism, including from Al-Qaida and ISIS, and an exporter of instability.
We will continue to convene partners both bilaterally and through the G7, the UN Security Council, and NATO and we expect that NATO will continue to have a role in fighting terrorism. We will work with our partners to use all levers at our disposal to disrupt terrorist groups' access to resources. This will include leading an international approach to prevent and deter Foreign Terrorist Fighters travelling to Afghanistan and effective implementation of counter-terrorism focused sanctions against terrorists in Afghanistan.
We will engage regional governments, in particular India and Pakistan, to work to prevent Afghanistan becoming a haven for terrorism. I visited Uzbekistan on 14 September, after visiting Uzbekistan and Tajikistan the week of 30 August for discussions on Afghanistan. The former Foreign Secretary also visited Islamabad to address the issue of terrorism and discussed it with the Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers. We will build regional resilience to prevent any spread of instability/extremist and to counter radicalising narratives.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) British nationals and (b) Afghan nationals were called forward or authorised for evacuation as part of Operation Pitting but did not evacuate Afghanistan.
Answered by James Heappey
Throughout Operation Pitting, supporting British Nationals and their immediate family to leave Afghanistan was one of our highest priorities. We helped over 8,000 to do so. We aimed to support all British Nationals so there was not the same "call forward" process as there was for Afghan nationals. We are aware that not all were able to leave so are encouraging any British Nationals remaining in Afghanistan to confirm their presence with us via the online form in order to receive important updates, alongside our regularly updated Travel Advice.
Additionally, under Operation Pitting 311 families eligible for relocation under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) were called forward but were not evacuated from Afghanistan, the vast majority of whom were Afghan nationals. Our efforts to contact and support these individuals and their dependants continue, and we are making every effort to assist them to reach the UK.
Our immediate focus is on ensuring safe passage for anyone remaining in Afghanistan who is eligible to come to the UK and wishes to leave. We continue to work closely with the Qatari authorities to facilitate the evacuation of British nationals from Kabul. Rapid Deployment Teams have been sent to Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to reinforce our Embassy staff to process arrivals from Afghanistan. Teams have also deployed to Qatar and UAE to assist our operations there and we are providing consular support to British nationals who were evacuated by other allies, including via US airbases in Europe.