Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to improve the transparency of aid.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Aid Transparency remains a high priority for my department. The FCDO has returned to monthly publication of aid programme data and documents, following global best practice. Furthermore, we have delivered our ambitious Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 5 commitments and a new plan for the current year has been co-created with Civil Society. Additionally, ICAI's recent follow-up to their Review into Aid Transparency judges that adequate progress has been made against each of their four recommendations. FCDO also advocates for greater transparency in the aid spending of other donors, recently attending the 2024 International Aid Transparency Initiative's Members' Assembly.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to improve the transparency of aid provided by arms-length bodies.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO accepted ICAI's recommendation in their 2022 Review into Aid Transparency that our clear and ambitious standards for transparency should be applied to Arm's-Length Bodies. The FCDO publishes information on ODA allocated to its Arm's-Length Bodies and is developing a new automated process to ensure this is done as efficiently as possible, reducing the administrative burden on FCDO teams. Furthermore, following the rollout of this new automated process, the FCDO will work with its ALBs to support improvements in aid publishing practice.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 20817 on Hamas: UNRWA, what assessment he has made of the threats faced by UNRWA staff members (a) John Ging and (b) Matthias Schmale.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Neither John Ging nor Matthias Schmale currently work for UNRWA. John Ging left the organisation in 2011 and Matthias Schmale in 2021, We hold regular discussions with UNRWA about their operations in Gaza and across the region. We are not currently aware of any threats made to their senior operations staff.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Turkish counterpart on the reported granting of (a) citizenship and (b) passports to senior Hamas figures (i) Ismail Haniyeh and (ii) Saleh al-Arouri by that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have not recently engaged with the Turkish Government on the reported granting of citizenship and passports to senior Hamas figures. Turkey granted citizenship to Ismail Haniyey in 2020, and Saleh al-Arouri was killed in January this year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take diplomatic steps to help prevent the expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK policy on settlement expansion is clear: settlements are illegal under international law and only make it harder to progress to achieving peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians. We have called on the Israeli Government to halt seizures of Palestinian lands immediately.
On 3 May, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions on extremist groups and individuals for inciting and perpetrating settler violence in the West Bank. The measures impose financial restrictions on the entities and individuals, and travel restrictions on the individuals. The UK will not hesitate to take further action if needed, including through further sanctions.
The Foreign Secretary has made our position clear to his Israeli counterparts, including during his visit to the region on 17 April.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking with regional partners to facilitate aid access to all parts of Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Current humanitarian access into and within Sudan remains highly constrained. Our top humanitarian priority remains securing immediate humanitarian access and operational security guarantees for humanitarian agencies. The UK continues to speak out publicly and vigorously to press the warring parties to facilitate unhindered, crossline & cross-border humanitarian access. On 20 March, the UK highlighted at the Security Council the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) White Note's clear warning that obstruction of humanitarian access by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces is resulting in people in Sudan starving. On 8 March, the UK led the Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire for Ramadan and for urgent humanitarian access.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what estimate his Department has made of the number of civilians killed in Sudan since the start of the civil war in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In their most recent assessment, dated 18 April 2024, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) recorded 16,650 reported fatalities in Sudan. However, the reported number of people killed in Sudan is a conservative estimate due to the extremely limited access environment and ongoing internet and telecommunication disruptions. We continue to call on both warring parties to de-escalate immediately and abide by their responsibilities under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the issuance of arrest warrants for (a) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and (b) senior Hamas leaders by the International Criminal Court.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We do not believe that seeking warrants will help get hostages out, get aid in, or deliver a sustainable ceasefire. This remains the UK's priority.
As we have also said from the outset, we do not think the ICC has jurisdiction in this case. The UK has not yet recognised Palestine as a state, and Israel is not a State Party to the Rome Statute.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in (a) the US and (b) France on the war in Sudan since the start of that conflict.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is working with a range of partners to end hostilities, allow safe, unhindered humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians. Foreign Office Ministers are in regular contact with international partners on Sudan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary discussed Sudan with USAID Administrator Samantha Power on 29 January 2024. Lord Benyon spoke to US and French colleagues at the Paris Humanitarian Conference on 15 April 2024. The UK Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Red Sea also regularly engages with her American and French counterparts.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking as the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council to prevent the flow of arms to the Rapid Support Forces.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK uses its position as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and penholder on Sudan to take action to bring an end to the conflict and atrocities in the country. There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which the UN renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. In our engagement with international partners, the UK continues to emphasise the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. On 15 April, a year after the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, the UK imposed new sanctions targeting three businesses linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support forces.