Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the religious freedom of minorities in Laos; and what representations they have made to the government of Laos about its duty to uphold Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have encouraged the Lao Government to fulfil all of its international human rights obligations, including during the British Ambassador's call on the Lao Foreign Minister in late 2019. The UK made a statement at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council in Sep-Oct 2020, which reiterated concerns around restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression in Laos.
In the questions submitted to the Universal Periodic Review of Laos in January this year, we asked what steps the Lao Government was taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief, specifically referencing ending the incidence of detaining or imprisoning Christians for unauthorised religious activities. We welcome Laos' engagement with the Universal Periodic Review process.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which countries in receipt of Official Development Assistance have yet to reach the peak for covid-19 infections.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The number of new reported cases of COVID-19 is increasing every day in almost all countries in receipt of Official Development Assistance (ODA). Data from the World Health Organization shows that the only ODA-eligible countries where the epidemic currently appears to be shrinking are: Belize, Dominica, Fiji, Namibia, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Eritrea, Mauritius, Montserrat, Cambodia, Laos. Most ODA eligible countries are therefore unlikely to have reached peak infections.
So far, the UK has pledged £744 million of UK aid to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible. This includes support to Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to model the future trajectory of the pandemic in low- and middle-income countries. This will help countries predict when they will reach their peaks, and to put in place measures to reduce their size.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps he is taking to strengthen UK relations with ASEAN member states.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
It is undoubtable that the ASEAN region’s political, economic and security importance is growing. As we leave the EU we are excited about deepening our relationship with all countries in Southeast Asia.
The importance we place on this region is demonstrated by the fact that the Foreign Secretary’s first overseas trip was to attend ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ 31 July - 1 August, where he met all of his ASEAN counterparts, and my first overseas trip was to Cambodia, Laos and Thailand in September. We are committed to strengthening our relationship with the region in all areas.
The first dedicated UK Ambassador to ASEAN was announced in October and our UK Mission to ASEAN will open in November.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works with a wide-range of partners to raise awareness and promote action to tackle the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT). During visits to Asia in September and October, I discussed IWT with ministers in Mongolia and Cambodia, and in Laos I raised awareness with students about the catastrophic impacts the trade has on wildlife populations.
We have also worked with international partners to help secure a strong IWT Resolution at this year's United Nations General Assembly. We are increasing our support for Africa-led Green Corridors initiatives to further support wildlife conservation, community development and safe movement of animals across borders. The FCO also supports Defra to deliver projects overseas, including those funded by the IWT Challenge Fund.
In 2018 the FCO, together with the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Department for International Development, convened the largest ever global IWT conference, at which 65 countries and a number of multilateral organisations signed up to the London Declaration.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie (HL16983), whether they will include the list of Trade Envoys and appointment dates in the text of the Written Answer for inclusion in Hansard.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement given by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade on 18 July 2019, HCWS1760.
On the 18 July 2019 my Noble Friend Lord Risby was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Lebanon which is in addition to his current role as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Algeria. Also on the 18 July 2019 the Hon. Member for Dudley North, Ian Austin MP, was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Israel. These two new appointments take the total number of Trade Envoys to 27 parliamentarians covering 58 markets.
Full List of Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, their Markets and date of appointment
Trade Envoy Name | Designated Markets | Date of PM Appointment |
Lord Risby | Algeria | November 2012 |
| Lebanon | July 2019 |
Baroness Morris | Jordan, Kuwait, Palestinian Territories | November 2012 |
Baroness Bonham Carter | Mexico | November 2012 |
Richard Graham MP | Indonesia | November 2012 |
| Trade Envoy to the ASEAN Economic Community | July 2015 |
| Philippines, Malaysia | January 2016 |
Baroness Nicholson | Iraq | January 2014 |
| Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan | April 2016 |
| Kazakhstan | July 2017 |
Lord Janvrin | Turkey | January 2014 |
Mark Prisk MP | (Investment Envoy) Nordic and Baltic Region | April 2014 |
| Brazil | March 2016 |
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP | Egypt | November 2015 |
Adam Afriyie MP | Ghana | January 2016 |
| Guinea | September 2017 |
Lord Popat | Uganda, Rwanda | January 2016 |
John Howell MP | Nigeria | January 2016 |
Rushanara Ali MP | Bangladesh | March 2016 |
Lord Astor of Hever | Oman | November 2016 |
Lord Faulkner | Taiwan | January 2016 |
Lord Lamont | Iran | January 2016 |
Baroness Northover | Angola | January 2016 |
| Zambia | July 2017 |
Paul Scully MP | Myanmar, Brunei, Thailand | July 2017 |
Jeremy Lefroy MP | Ethiopia | July 2017 |
Andrew Selous MP | South Africa | July 2017 |
Mark Pritchard MP | Georgia, Armenia | September 2017 |
Mark Menzies MP | Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile | September 2017 |
Simon Hart MP | Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica | September 2017 |
Ed Vaizey MP | Vietnam, Laos,Cambodia | September 2017 |
Sir Henry Bellingham MP | Libya | June 2018 |
Pauline Latham MP | Kenya | August 2018 |
Andrew Rosindell MP | Tanzania | September 2018 |
Ian Austin MP | Israel | July 2019 |
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of Laos on its inclusion in the Open Doors 2019 World Watch List of the top 50 countries where Christians face persecution.
Answered by Mark Field
The Foreign Secretary and I, alongside other British Government Ministers, routinely raise our concerns about the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, where this occurs. He recently asked the Bishop of Truro to conduct an independent review of the persecution of Christians around the world to help inform this important area of our work and ensure it is targeted and effective. The Government works with a large number of NGOs, including Open Doors, to help promote and protect freedom of religion or belief. We use information from a wide range of sources to inform our work.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will publish the visits undertaken by each Trade Envoy since October 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
TRADE ENVOY- MARKETS COVERED | DATE |
ANDREW PERCY MP - Canada |
|
Canada | 4-11 November 2018 |
ANDREW SELOUS MP - South Africa |
|
South Africa | 29-31 October 2018 |
BARONESS MORRIS - Jordan, Kuwait, Palestinian Territories |
|
Kuwait | 12-14 December 2018 |
BARONESS NICHOLSON - Iraq, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan |
|
Iraq | 27-29 November 2018 |
BARONESS NORTHOVER - Angola, Zambia |
|
Angola | 6-10 November 2018 |
ED VAIZEY MP - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos |
|
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos | 29 September-3 October 2018 |
SIR JEFFREY DONALDSON - Egypt |
|
Egypt | 1-5 December 2018 |
LORD ASTOR - Oman |
|
Oman | 30 October-4 November 2018 |
LORD JANVRIN - Turkey |
|
Turkey | 15-18 October 2018 |
LORD POPAT - Uganda, Rwanda |
|
Uganda | 25 October-2 November 2018 |
LORD RISBY - Algeria |
|
Algeria | 28-31 October 2018 |
MARK PRISK MP - Brazil, Nordics, Baltics |
|
Denmark | 13 December 2018 |
PAUL SCULLY MP - Thailand, Burma, Brunei |
|
Brunei | 5-9 November 2018 |
PAULINE LATHAM MP - Kenya |
|
Kenya | 22-23 November 2018 |
Total | 14 Visits |
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 178257 on Trade Promotion, if he will publish the visits undertaken by each Trade Envoy in the last year.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The table below outlines all overseas visits undertaken by the PM’s Trade Envoys from October 2017 – September 2018. In total they have undertaken 61 overseas visits to 41 markets in the last year.
Trade Envoy | Market visited | Date Markets visited: |
Adam Afriyie MP | Ghana Ghana, Guinea Ghana, Guinea | 8-11 November 2017 8-13 April 16-21 September 2018 |
Andrew Murrison MP | Morocco Tunisia | 7-10 February 2018 No visit |
Andrew Percy MP | Canada | 4-9 November 2017 8-12 February 2108 27-11 June 2018 |
Andrew Selous MP | South Africa | 6-9 February 2018 27-30 August 2018 |
Baroness Bonham-Carter | Mexico | 10-16 February 2018 23-30 September 2018 |
Baroness Morris | Kuwait | 5-8 December 2017 |
Baroness Nicholson | Azerbaijan, Kuwait(for Iraq conference) Turkmenistan | 12-16 February 2018 28 May-1 June 2018 |
Baroness Northover | Angola Zambia | 7-10 November 2017 19-21 September 2018 26-28 September 2018 8-16 February 2018 |
Ed Vaizey MP | Vietnam Cambodia, Laos Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos | 5-11 November 2017 8-12 February 2018 29 September - 3 October 2018 |
Jeremy Lefroy MP | Ethiopia | 8-11 November 2017 11-16 February 2018 28-31 May 2018 3-5 September 2018 |
John Howell MP | Nigeria | 6-9 November 2017 |
Julian Knight MP | Mongolia | 5-10 April 2018 19-24 September 2018 |
Lord Astor | Oman | 2-6 October 2017 11-14 February 2018 |
Lord Faulkner | Taiwan | 24-31 January 2018 17-22 September 2018 |
Lord Hollick | Tanzania | 1-4 October 2017 |
Lord Janvrin | Turkey | 2-5 October 2017 12-14 February 2018 |
Lord King | Saudi Arabia | 23-25 September 2017 |
Lord Lamont | Iran | 23-28 September 2018 |
Lord Popat | Uganda Rwanda | 16-24 November 2017 13-16 February 2018 |
Lord Risby | Algeria | 6-9 November 2017 29-1 May 2018 |
Mark Menzies MP | Columbia, Chile Columbia, Chile Peru | 4-10 November 2017 31 March-11 April 2018 23-28 September 2018 |
Mark Pritchard MP | Georgia, Armenia | 6-9 October 2017 1-10 November 2017 7-21 February 2018 6-11 June 2018 |
Paul Scully MP | Thailand | 5-11 November 2017 |
Ranil Jayawardena MP | Sri Lanka | 14-17 February 2018 17-21 September 2018 |
Rehman Chishti MP | Pakistan | 8-11 November 2017 11-15 February 2018 14-18 September 2018 |
Richard Graham MP | Malaysia Indonesia | 3-5 November 2017 31 July – 3 August 2018 11-13 April 2018 |
Rushanara Ali MP | Bangladesh | 20-31 July 2018 |
Simon Hart MP | Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic | 10-13 April 2018 |
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson | Egypt | 28 July – 1 August 2018 22-27 September 2018 |
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Laos counterpart on potential legislative changes which threaten freedom of religion and belief in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
We raise human rights concerns on a regular basis with the Lao government both bilaterally and through multilateral fora. I visited Laos on 24 and 25 August and raised human rights as part of a UK-Laos Political Dialogue.
Regarding specific concerns over restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief, we raised these as part of Laos’ most recent Universal Periodic Review in 2015. This issue was also on the agenda at the annual EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue in March 2018, where individual cases of concern were included in the discussion.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to urge (a) Thailand, (b) Vietnam, (c) Japan, (d) Laos, (e) Myanmar and (f) other countries in Asia to ban the trade in ivory.
Answered by Mark Field
The former Foreign Secretary set out his ambition to make 2018 the year of UK leadership in defeating the illegal ivory trade. On 2 July the then Foreign Secretary announced that the Government would launch the Ivory Alliance 2024, which will work with partners globally to increase the number of countries committed to domestic ivory bans and for tougher enforcement against those caught breaking the law.
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a high priority for the Ministerial team, with an ongoing campaign that has included personal engagement with Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Laos and Myanmar. The former Foreign Secretary raised ivory with Thai Foreign Minister Don in June. He visited Thailand in February where he discussed IWT with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He raised ivory with the Foreign Minister of Japan in May and also in 2017. I have raised IWT on my own visits to Asia this year, including with counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam.
FCO officials continue to work closely with host governments across Asia on IWT.