Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have contributed financially since September 2023 to humanitarian support for the estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians who have fled Nagorno-Karabakh.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support to those affected by September's conflict. We liaise with the UN, ICRC and others to assess humanitarian need in the region.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided, since September 2023, to humanitarian support for the estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians who have fled their homeland of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support to those affected by September's conflict. We are liaising with the UN, ICRC and others to further assess humanitarian need in the region.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Coventry (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian needs of Armenian Karabakhs in Nagorno-Karabakh, following the latest military offensive of 19 September, and what assistance they are providing to meet those needs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has placed local communities under immense pressure. We welcome the news that the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have access into Nagorno-Karabakh. The UK is providing £1 million to the ICRC to provide life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support to those affected by the recent conflict. The funding will also support the ICRC to transport the wounded and help displaced families keep in contact. We are liaising with the UN, the ICRC and others to assess humanitarian need in the region and what further UK assistance is required.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has offered humanitarian aid to help civilians affected by Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government has publicly highlighted the importance of re-opening the Lachin Corridor and addressing the humanitarian needs of the local population, including at the United Nations Security Council on 16 August 2023. The UK has a strong record of supporting humanitarian responses in this region and FCDO officials are in close contact with humanitarian agencies about the current situation. The START FUND, a humanitarian response fund to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to the region to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the availability of (a) food, (b) medicine and (c) energy supplies in Nagorno Karabakh; and whether his Department plans to help support international agencies to provide critical supplies to people in the region.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government closely monitors the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and where we have concerns we have prominently highlighted them both in private engagements with our counterparts in the region, and publicly through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations Security Council. The UK has a strong record of supporting humanitarian responses in this region and FCDO officials are in close contact with humanitarian agencies about the situation on the ground. The START FUND, a humanitarian response fund to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to the region to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 January (HL4816), what consideration they have given to increasing the £350,000 given in aid to the Start Fund for Nagorno-Karabakh due to the ongoing blockade of (1) food, and (2) medicine, caused by the closure of the Lachin corridor.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Officials continue to discuss the developing situation in the region with humanitarian partners. In 2020, the UK Government was the first to respond to the outbreak of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and allocate £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and, should further requests come in in relation to the Lachin Corridor, we will consider accordingly. At this time we have received no additional requests for funds from humanitarian organisations.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to provide humanitarian support, including the provision of (1) food, and (2) medical supplies, to the Armenian population living in the city of Stepanakert.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has been clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences, particularly during winter. Officials are in contact with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC most recently on 18 January, about their assessment of the impact of the closure and the START FUND, to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks by Samantha Power, Administrator of USAID, who said that a "humanitarian catastrophe" is unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh; and what steps they are taking urgently to enable NGOs and charities to fly humanitarian aid into the region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has been clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences, particularly during winter. Officials are in contact with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, about their assessment of the impact of the closure. The START FUND, to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor. The Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty MP, issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. We also called for early resolution of this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department has taken to help ensure access of humanitarian aid to the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Answered by Wendy Morton
In September, I [Minister Morton] announced that the UK had contributed £500,000 to a United Nations Development Programme initiative to take action on mines left in the region as a legacy of the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is one of the most heavily contaminated with land mines in the world and the money the UK has given will eventually allow people to live safely and without fear of harm from unexploded ordnance. This funding complements the £1 million the UK gave last year to the ICRC in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. The UK Government continues to consider what further support we might provide to the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the coming months as they recover from the conflict and we continue to call for international humanitarian agencies to have unrestricted access to the whole region.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Coventry (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that authorisation from the government of Russia is now required for foreign nationals to enter the Nagorno-Karabakh region, what assessment they have made of the impact this will have on the delivery of humanitarian aid to that region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is aware of reports that Russian peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh are providing authorisation for those who wish to enter the region. Whilst we have not made an assessment on whether this will impact the delivery of humanitarian aid, during her recent visits to Baku and Yerevan the Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas urged closer cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia with a view to ensuring that all humanitarian agencies were able to access the region to deliver aid.