Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to which countries they have provided (1) advice, and (2) support, on landmine clearance programmes.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Since 2018 we have funded programmes to clear landmines and other explosive hazards in Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Colombia, Georgia, (Abkhazia), Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. In most countries these programmes include capacity development for national authorities to help them manage contamination and education for populations to help keep them safe. In November 2020 the UK successfully fulfilled its own obligation under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention with the completion of the Falklands Demining Programme.
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 much bilateral ODA his Department has allocated to (a) Algeria, (b) Angola, (c) Benin, (d) Botswana and (e) Burkina Faso in 2021-22.
Answered by James Duddridge
Full budgets per country and a final audited spend for 2021/22 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) scientific and (b) medical basis for the decision to include (i) Angola, (ii) Qatar and (iii) the UAE on the red list of travel ban countries.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what countries the British Armed Forces provided training to on UK territory in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Personnel from the countries listed in the table below have attended defence education or training in the UK in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Year | Countries |
2019/20 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA ANGOLA ANTIGUA & BARBUDA ARGENTINA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CROATIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE GRENADA GUYANA HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PHILIPPINES POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA RWANDA SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SERBIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVENIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWEDEN SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TURKEY UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA UZBEKISTAN VIETNAM |
2020/21 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELGIUM BELIZE BHUTAN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE COLOMBIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT LEBANON LITHUANIA MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PARAGUAY POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA SAUDI ARABIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TUNISIA UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA |
Note: MOD records information on International Defence Training (IDT) by financial year, rather than by calendar year. Information is taken from a central IDT database. Some activity may not be captured on that database.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the UK's immigration returns agreements with (a) Afghanistan, (b) Algeria, (c) Angola, (d) Azerbaijan, (e) China, (f) Djibouti, (g) Democratic Republic of Congo, (h) Guinea, (i) Iraq, (j) Kuwait, (k) Nigeria, (l) Sierra Leone, (m) Somalia, (n) South Korea, (o) South Sudan, (p) Switzerland and (q) Vietnam.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have good longstanding migration relationships with many countries including through formal returns and readmission agreements with the countries listed in the question. The content of such agreements varies in scope. Some of the agreements are published on Gov.UK or are in the public domain. However, some agreements are not published so as to preserve good international relations or for operational reasons.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK's immigration returns agreements with (a) Afghanistan, (b) Algeria, (c) Angola, (d) Azerbaijan, (e) China, (f) Djibouti, (g) Democratic Republic of Congo, (h) Guinea, (i) Iraq, (j) Kuwait, (k) Nigeria, (l) Sierra Leone, (m) Somalia, (n) South Korea, (o) South Sudan, (p) Switzerland and (q) Vietnam cover the return of (i) nationals and residents of the country listed and (ii) nationals of third countries.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have good longstanding migration relationships with many countries including through formal returns and readmission agreements with the countries listed in the question. The content of such agreements varies in scope. Some of the agreements are published on Gov.UK or are in the public domain. However, some agreements are not published so as to preserve good international relations or for operational reasons.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many countries have (a) had, or (b) are expected to have, debt payments to the UK Government suspended under the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2021; and how much debt has been suspended for each country.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK has been at the forefront of leading the international response in assisting developing countries to deal with debt challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the G20 and Paris Club, the UK has supported a new Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) which has agreed to defer the debt service repayments of low-income countries until at least June 2021, ensuring they can focus their resources on the health and economic response to Covid-19.
As of 13 November 2020, 46 countries have requested to benefit from the DSSI, amounting to an estimated USD 5.7bn of 2020 debt service deferral. In relation to the UK, 10 countries have requested to benefit from the DSSI in 2020. The following table shows the amounts that the government has agreed to defer for 2020.
Country | Estimated deferred amount (USD million1) | Additional remarks2 |
Angola | 0.57 | 1 contract in US (0.1m USD); 1 contract in EUR (0.43m EUR) |
Dominica | 0.89 | 1 contract in USD (0.89m USD) |
Grenada | 0.31 | 1 contract in GBP (0.24m GBP) |
Lesotho | 0.006 | EU IDA credits, contract in GBP (4,935 GBP) |
Myanmar | 2.35 | 1 contract in GBP (1.72m GBP); 1 contract in USD (0.2m USD) |
Nepal | 0.51 | EU IDA credits, contract in GBP (405,864 GBP) |
Pakistan | 0.66 | 1 contract in GBP (0.53mGBP) |
Samoa | 0.0008 | EU IDA credits, recently identified by WBG, contract in GBP (663 GBP) |
Yemen, Republic of | 0.03 | EU IDA credits, contract in GBP (23,325 GBP) |
Zambia | 0.90 | 1 contract in USD (0.9mUSD) |
1 If the original currency of the agreement/country is not in USD, please convert in USD by using the exchange rates as of 30 April 2020 provided by the IMF
2 EU IDA credits are the UK’s share of EU credits delivered by the World Bank’s International Development Association
We cannot at this stage set out the information requested for 2021 as it remains for individual countries to approach the Paris Club and G20 to request to continue or newly take advantage of the DSSI extension.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions his Department has had with the Angolan Government on the recent droughts in that country.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Southern Africa is facing an urgent humanitarian crisis due to drought and other climate-related and economic factors. In southern Angola over 500,000 people are experiencing crisis-level food insecurity. The UK is pushing to put this crisis on the international agenda. On a recent visit to the country, I met with Angola’s Minister for Environment and discussed the drought and more broadly the humanitarian situation facing the wider region.
DFID is supporting the regional response through our contributions to multilaterals, notably the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The CERF has so far allocated just over £4.8 million to the response in Angola. Through Regional Vulnerability Analysis and Assessment (RVAA) programme, led by the Southern Africa Development Community, the UK is supporting assessments to inform humanitarian and resilience responses, including in Angola.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the (a) invitees and (b) attendees of the January 2020 UK-Africa investment summit.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Summit brought together African leaders and delegations from 21 countries: Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.
Six multilateral organisations and international financial institutions also participated: the African Development Bank, the African Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the World Bank.
In addition, hundreds of UK and African business representatives and representatives from Civil Society Organisations attended the Summit.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by recent droughts in Angola.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Southern Africa is facing an urgent humanitarian crisis due to drought and other climate-related and economic factors. In southern Angola over 500,000 people are experiencing crisis-level food insecurity.
The UK is pushing to put this crisis on the international agenda. DFID is supporting the regional response through our contributions to multilaterals, notably the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The UK is the largest overall contributor to the CERF since its inception. The CERF has so far allocated approximately £4.8 million to the response in Angola.
Through Regional Vulnerability Analysis and Assessment (RVAA) programme, led by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the UK is supporting assessments to inform humanitarian and resilience responses, including in Angola.