Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have examined, and from which organisations, to determine that (1) Georgia, and (2) India, are safe countries.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As with all our country assessments to inform asylum and immigration decision making, we have drawn on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national and international organisations, including human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the government of Georgia introducing a bill that would curtail LGBT+ rights on the UK government’s declaration that Georgia is a safe country for immigration purposes.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In line with 80AA of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, we work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to regularly monitor and review the situation in countries where migrants originate from, including how any new legislation is applied in practice.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with international partners on strengthening multilateral approaches to prevent the circumvention of sanctions against Russia through third countries.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK coordinates closely with the EU, US, G7 and other international partners to tackle circumvention via multilateral fora and strategic consultations. Senior officials attend the Sanctions Coordinators Forum in Brussels, most recently in February 2024 focusing on strengthening enforcement of Russia sanctions. With the EU, US and Japan we have agreed a list of 50 Common High Priority items; battlefield-critical components we are targeting through joint diplomatic engagement with third countries. With the US and EU we have jointly engaged with the UAE, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and Serbia, to highlight circumvention risks and offer technical support.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the spread of avian influenza in South Georgia; and whether his Department is taking steps to implement biosecurity measures to help prevent the further spread of avian influenza.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in gentoo and king penguins, brown skua, kelp gul, wandering albatross, elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals on South Georgia. The effects appear to be localised. The FCDO is working to support the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), alongside the British Antarctic Survey, to put in place strict biosecurity procedures and mitigation measures, including enhanced cleaning of clothing and equipment, and to monitor for further spread.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2023 to Question 1027 on Military Attachés, if he will publish an updated list of countries without a resident UK Defence Attache.
Answered by James Heappey
The Global Defence Network (GDN) utilises Resident and Non-Resident Defence Attachés (DA), who engage in Defence diplomacy in over three-quarters of the world’s nations. The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK DA is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility.
Country (NRA) | Location of DA |
Angola | Mozambique - Maputo |
Anguilla (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Antigua & Barbuda | Jamaica - Kingston |
Armenia | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Azerbaijan | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Bahamas | Jamaica - Kingston |
Barbados | Jamaica - Kingston |
Belarus | Ukraine – Kyiv |
Belize | Jamaica - Kingston |
Benin | Accra - Ghana |
Bermuda (British overseas territory) | USA – Washington DC |
Botswana | Harare - Zimbabwe |
British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Burkina Faso | Ghana - Accra |
Burundi | Uganda – Kampala |
Cambodia | (In process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Cayman Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica – Kingston |
Chad | Cameroon - Yaoundé |
Cuba | Mexico – Mexico City |
Djibouti | Ethiopia – Addis Ababa |
Dominica | Jamaica - Kingston |
Dominican Republic | Jamaica - Kingston |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kampala - Uganda |
Eritrea | Sana’a - Yemen (temporarily relocated to Riyadh) |
Ecuador | Bogota - Colombia |
Grenada | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guinea | Sierra Leone – Freetown |
Guyana | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guatemala | Mexico – Mexico City |
Guinea-Bissau | Senegal - Dakar |
Haiti | Jamaica - Kingston |
Hungary | Croatia - Zagreb |
Iceland | Norway - Oslo |
Ivory Coast | Ghana – Accra |
Khartoum | Egypt - Cairo |
Kosovo | Macedonia - Skopje |
Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Laos | (in process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Lesotho | South Africa - Pretoria |
Liberia | Sierra Leone - Freetown |
Luxembourg | Belgium - Brussels |
Malawi | Zimbabwe – Harare |
Mali | Senegal - Dakar |
Malta | Rome - Italy |
Mauritania | Morocco – Rabat |
Monaco | France – Paris |
Mongolia | Japan – Tokyo |
Myanmar | Thailand - Bangkok |
Montserrat (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Namibia | South Africa – Pretoria |
Niger | Cameroon – Yaoundé |
Papua New Guinea | Australia – Canberra |
Paraguay | Argentina – Buenos Aires |
Peru | Colombia - Bogota |
Rwanda | Uganda – Kampala |
Seychelles | Kenya - Nairobi |
St Kitts & Nevis | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Lucia | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Vincent | Jamaica - Kingston |
Slovakia | Czech Rep - Prague |
Slovenia | Austria – Vienna |
South Sudan | Addis Ababa – Ethiopia |
Switzerland | Vienna - Austria |
Syria | Lebanon - Beirut |
Tajikistan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Tanzania | Kenya – Nairobi |
The Gambia | Senegal - Dakar |
Timor-Leste (East Timor) | Indonesia - Jakarta |
Togo | Ghana – Accra |
Tonga | Fiji – Suva |
Trinidad & Tobago | Jamaica - Kingston |
Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan - Tashkent |
Turks & Caicos Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Uruguay | Argentina - Buenos Aires |
Vanuatu | Fiji – Suva |
Venezuela | Bogota - Colombia |
Zambia | Zimbabwe - Harare |
Supported by MOD from in the UK |
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Cape Verdi Islands |
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Congo |
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Gabon |
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Panama |
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Puerto Rica |
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Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking to prevent businesses from evading sanctions by exporting goods to Russia via third countries.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Working closely with G7 partners, we have stepped up our engagement with third countries to support them to tackle circumvention of UK sanctions. We have sent joint delegations to UAE, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Armenia, to highlight risks and offer technical support to government and business.
The UK Government supports businesses domestically to tackle sanctions evasion, including by publishing guidance for exporters and by publishing the "Common High Priority Items List" of goods critical to Russia's military. HMG is also standing up the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, which will boost the enforcement and implementation of UK trade sanctions.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what environmental projects have been funded through Darwin Plus in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2019, Darwin Plus has funded 21 environmental projects of benefit to South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. These are listed in the table below.
Please visit the Darwin Plus website at https://darwinplus.org.uk/ for full details of funded projects.
Project reference | Project title | UK Overseas Territories involved |
DPLUS146 | Red Listing can protect OT marine biodiversity | British Antarctic Territory, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS166 | Improving identification of fish bycatch in the Antarctic krill fishery | British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS092 | Seabird sentinels: mapping potential bycatch risk using bird-borne radar | Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS175 | Enhancing monitoring and prevention of invasive non-native species across UKOTs | Gibraltar, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus), South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands |
DPLUS174 | A cross-UKOT camera network to enhance marine predator conservation | Montserrat, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS089 | Integrating genetic approaches into sub-Antarctic deep sea research and management | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS093 | HOT: Hadal zones of our Overseas Territories | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS109 | Initiating monitoring support for the SGSSI-MPA Research and Monitoring Plan | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS120 | Spatial segregation and bycatch risk of seabirds at South Georgia | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS122 | Biodiversity discovery and the future of South Georgia’s seaweed habitats | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS143 | What goes thump at night: managing bird-strike in South Georgia | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS144 | Protecting South Georgia’s terrestrial communities from climate change-invasion synergies | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS149 | Resolving ecosystem effects of the South Georgia winter krill fishery | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS179 | Characterising pelagic biodiversity at South Georgia through novel sampling methods | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS186 | Evidence-based conservation of biodiversity in the South Sandwich Islands | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS187 | Using satellite technology to monitor seabird populations at South Georgia | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS188 | Hungry humpbacks: measuring seasonal foraging intensity at South Georgia | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS189 | Evaluating climate change risks to Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPL00019 | Mapping South Georgia's Plant Biodiversity | South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) |
DPL00039 | Assessing Terrestrial Climate Change Impacts on a sub-Antarctic Archipelago | South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) |
DPLUS132 | Monitoring albatrosses using very high resolution satellites and citizen science | St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what environmental projects have been funded through Darwin Plus in Antartica since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2019, Darwin Plus has funded 22 environmental projects of benefit to the Falkland Islands. These are listed in the table below.
Please visit the Darwin Plus website at https://darwinplus.org.uk/ for full details of funded projects.
Project reference | Project title | UK Overseas Territories involved |
DPLUS146 | Red Listing can protect OT marine biodiversity | British Antarctic Territory, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS110 | Recognise, protect, restore: driving sound stewardship of Falklands peat wetlands | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS115 | Unlocking Falkland Islands Marine Management: Key Biodiversity Areas for seabirds | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS116 | Falklands wetlands and aquatic habitats: baselines for monitoring future change | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS126 | Advancing Falklands and region-scale management of globally important whale populations | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS139 | Improving Falklands marine management effectiveness for marine higher predators | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS148 | Climate change resilience in Falkland Islands fisheries and marine ecosystems | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS167 | Pathogens as a threat to seabirds in the Falkland Islands | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS168 | Understanding increased FI seal bycatch to inform bycatch Action Plan | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS169 | New Island: completing preparatory steps for restoration against invasive mammals | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS182 | Habitat restoration and species re-introductions on four Falklands island reserves | Falkland Islands |
DPL00047 | Increasing environmental monitoring capacity on FI: a Thermal Imaging UAV | Falkland Islands |
DPL00058 | Fire Contingency Planning for Offshore Islands | Falkland Islands |
CV19RR02 | Establishing wildlife health and disease monitoring in the Falkland Islands | Falkland Islands |
DPL00002 | Restoring native tussac grassland habitat | Falkland Islands |
DPL00006 | Restoring peat soils and tussac grass habitat in the Falklands | Falkland Islands |
DPL00020 | Data driven solutions to land management and climate change adaptation | Falkland Islands |
DPL00025 | Building farm biodiversity planning and monitoring capacity for sustainable management | Falkland Islands |
DPLUS092 | Seabird sentinels: mapping potential bycatch risk using bird-borne radar | Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS094 | Developing Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) tools for Turks and Caicos | Falkland Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands |
DPLUS175 | Enhancing monitoring and prevention of invasive non-native species across UKOTs | Gibraltar, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus), South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands |
DPLUS174 | A cross-UKOT camera network to enhance marine predator conservation | Montserrat, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what environmental projects have been funded through Darwin Plus in the Falkland Islands since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2019, Darwin Plus has funded 6 environmental projects of benefit to the British Antarctic Territory. These are listed in the table below.
Please visit the Darwin Plus website at https://darwinplus.org.uk/ for full details of funded projects.
Project reference | Project title | UK Overseas Territories involved |
DPLUS185 | Safeguarding Antarctic krill stocks for baleen whales | British Antarctic Territory |
DPL00008 | Biodiversity Survey and Environmental Management Plan in Antarctica | British Antarctic Territory (BAT) |
DPLUS146 | Red Listing can protect OT marine biodiversity | British Antarctic Territory, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS166 | Improving identification of fish bycatch in the Antarctic krill fishery | British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
DPLUS175 | Enhancing monitoring and prevention of invasive non-native species across UKOTs | Gibraltar, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus), South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands |
DPLUS174 | A cross-UKOT camera network to enhance marine predator conservation | Montserrat, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands |
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been provided by Darwin Plus by country in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Darwin Plus is a competitive UK Government grants scheme that provides funding for environmental projects in the UK Overseas Territories. Since 2019, UK government spending on Darwin Plus has increased year on year to a record high of £6.85m in 22/23, reflecting the rising breadth and quality of applications to our schemes. Projects are selected on their merit at application supported by the advice of independent experts currently sat on the Darwin Plus Advisory Group. Darwin Plus funding per territory over the last five years can be found below:
Overseas Territory | Grant Funding from 2019 - 2024 |
Anguilla | £2,702,538.47 |
Bermuda | £562,703.60 |
British Antarctic Territory | £935,916.75 |
British Indian Ocean Territory | £1,233,527.92 |
British Virgin Islands | £3,660,593.29 |
Cayman Islands | £2,871,387.06 |
Falkland Islands | £3,137,812.11 |
Gibraltar | £169,956.10 |
Montserrat | £2,071,315.89 |
Pitcairn, Henderson, Oeno and Ducie Islands | £423,105.00 |
St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha | £5,918,668.62 |
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands | £4,412,383.75 |
Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia | £1,176,523.50 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | £3,462,690.14 |