Covid-19: Syria
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, I cannot talk about individual projects; I can say that the UK remains one of the largest humanitarian donors to the Syria crisis. As I said, we have committed more than £3.7 billion since 2012. We have supported millions of people, providing food, clean water and healthcare, and our funding will continue to do so. However, in relation to specific programmes, I fear that all I can say for now is that FCDO programme managers are working with suppliers and delivery partners to work out the precise implications for every programme.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, more people are displaced from Syria than from any other country in the world. Syria’s neighbours alone host more than 5 million Syrian refugees. We rely on them to do this to avoid a repeat of the mass movement of Syrian refugees that we saw in 2015 and to prevent even worse humanitarian suffering. Does my noble friend see any risk that cutting Britain’s aid to Syrian refugees this year could seriously affect the ability of Syria’s neighbours to continue bearing the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis, particularly if other countries follow Britain’s example and cut their overseas aid?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, it would be a great thing if other donor countries followed our example of how much we have invested in Syria. We are investing enormous sums in an appalling humanitarian crisis. Over half the pre-war population is displaced from their homes and millions of people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. We have spent at least £1.96 billion to support the probably more than 5.5 million refugees in the wider region, addressing immediate humanitarian need, providing quality education to children, creating opportunities and providing shelter. We continue to support the Governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to cope with a protracted refugee presence in a whole manner of ways.
Integrated Review: Development Aid
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, at this point in the debate the harm that these cuts will do, and are already doing, is well established. In many critical areas, this comes on top of existing underfunding and neglect. Preventing sexual violence in conflict is one such area and it is as urgent today as ever. Horrific accounts of rape, sexual assault and torture have been coming out of the conflict in Tigray. Over the past few years, we have heard similar reports from the DRC, Sudan and Myanmar. These are situations that the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative was established to help address, yet the Government are not using the tools they have.
Worse than that, they are starving them. Funding for PSVI has fallen from more than £15 million in 2014 to about £2 million today. Staff numbers have been cut from a peak of 34 to four and have, at times, been even lower. That is before we know the impact, as yet unannounced and unqualified, of these new aid reductions.
We should be leading the world in preventing sexual violence. With President Biden’s election and the upcoming G7, we had a tremendous opportunity to breathe new life into efforts to end impunity. We have not taken it. Yet there is still time. The integrated review lists efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict as a priority action. I welcome that but there is a clue in the word “action”. Words in a review are not enough. We need to fund existing efforts and make use of existing tools. We need to put sexual violence back on the agenda, including with G7 leaders. We need to think about how to keep driving progress forward, including through new approaches and mechanisms. These aid cuts will not help but, if the Government are determined, they can make real progress. I hope they will.
Yemen
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]
My Lords, sadly, the short answer is yes. The UK has already contributed £2.5 million to fund this mission, but it is for the Houthis to facilitate the mission’s access and deployment.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, we know that the only way to avert famine in the long term is to end the conflict and create a peace in which all members of society can prosper. A lasting peace requires justice and accountability for the many crimes committed in Yemen. I welcome the establishment of the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. Does my noble friend agree that such a platform is also needed for Yemen to ensure that justice and accountability become more than just aspirations in that country?
Yemen: Aid Funding
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, we take extremely seriously the point that the noble and right reverend Lord has raised about arms export licensing. Indeed, our rules ensure that we focus specifically on international humanitarian law. If we look at what the United Kingdom has done over the last five years, we see that we have provided more than £1 billion in aid. However, I concur with what he says: we must ensure that we focus on the most vulnerable in what are very challenging circumstances for our budget, and that is exactly what we are seeking to do.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My noble friend will be aware that 80% of the population of Yemen rely on humanitarian support, and that a child dies every 10 minutes from diarrhoea, malnutrition or other preventable causes. The situation in Yemen today is as dire as it has ever been since the conflict started in March 2015. What consideration has been given to this dire situation—[Inaudible.] I ask the Government to reconsider—[Inaudible.]
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, I fear there was a difficulty, and we did not catch all of that question. If the noble Baroness is able to repeat the end of her question, that would assist us.
Belarus
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, on the noble Baroness’s second question I will revert to the House once I have confirmation as to the way forward. On her first question, we are working very closely with our EU partners, including at the Human Rights Council and at the OSCE, and we continue to engage directly with the likes of France and Germany on this matter.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, yesterday 17 year- old Nikita Zolotarev was sentenced to five years in a correction colony, having been beaten up and having had law enforcement use an electric-shock baton on him. Can my noble friend tell the House what specific steps the Government are taking to work with the United States and our EU allies to respond to these abuses aimed at children and teenagers?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I assure my noble friend that we are working not just with the United States but, as I said in response to a previous question, with our EU allies on this issue. We need to bring direct pressure on the Belarus Administration, which we have done at the highest level through sanctions. However, we also continue to implore Russia to ensure that the elections which were held previously can be held again, and in a fair and transparent way.
Myanmar
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the Statement and the update he has offered. There are immediate actions which must be taken. I draw his attention to those being taken by New Zealand. It has suspended all military and high-level political contact with the country, including a travel ban on its military leaders. At the same time, we must look at this moment of crisis and recognise the depth of the challenges in Myanmar and to its fragile democracy. Progress will be impossible without action on a range of fronts, including on racial discrimination and violent conflict, true inequality and underdevelopment. I hope that our engagement with Myanmar will move beyond this immediate crisis to look at the endemic problems that the country has been suffering from.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I take on board what my noble friend said about the military and the need to look at the situation regarding the arms embargo. As she will be aware, the UK is a long-standing supporter of an arms embargo on Myanmar and, together with our EU colleagues, we played a key role in the embargo imposed following the 2017 Rohingya crisis. Since we left the EU, we have transitioned that into domestic law. My noble friend also made a broader point about the importance of stability in Myanmar. We are working in the region, particularly with ASEAN, which has an important role to play in this respect.
Yemen
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that we are working very closely with the United States on this. We agree that it is important to bring this crisis of humanitarian suffering to an end and work very closely in this respect. On arms sales and export licences, I assure the noble Lord, as I have done previously, that we will not issue any export licence where there is a clear risk of serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
The claim that the United Kingdom and other countries providing arms to Saudi Arabia were potentially “aiding and assisting” war crimes by the country’s forces in Yemen is a heavy charge to be laid on our country. The Government have indicated that they do not intend to mirror the actions taken by the United States and suspend defence exports to Saudi Arabia. Will they reconsider their decision not to mirror the actions taken by our closest ally, the United States, and suspend defence exports to Saudi Arabia as part of an attempt to end the Yemen conflict?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I have already in part stated the Government’s position in answer to the previous question. Yes, we have an ongoing defence relationship with Saudi Arabia, but it is not just about exports; we also provide valuable training courses, advice and guidance. We have a strong relationship. I assure my noble friend that the issue of international humanitarian law is at the forefront in any exports to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or any other country.
Alexei Navalny
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I do agree with former Secretary of State Pompeo’s words. That is why we work very closely with the United States in dealing with the issues and challenges that Russia brings to the world.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
Alexei Navalny’s latest investigation into what he has called the world’s “biggest bribe”—Putin’s sprawling palace at the Black Sea—is a reminder that corruption is endemic in autocracy and that tackling it undermines the rule of strong men such as Putin. With that in mind, will the Government continue to encourage greater transparency over Russian financial activities around the world, including in the United Kingdom, and take steps to combat money laundering? Can my noble friend the Minister update us on the progress that has been made on this since the Intelligence and Security Committee published its report last year?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I apologise: some of my noble friend’s questions were not quite clear. However, I believe that she referred to the ISC report on Russia. As she will know, the Government’s response was published immediately after its release. Russia is a top national security priority for the Government, and we will introduce new legislation concerning the security services and law enforcement. As she will be aware, the Government are currently looking at how our sanctions regime can be further extended to deal with corruption and illicit financing.
Foreign Policy: UK-EU Dialogue
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I have already alluded to that, but I assure the noble Baroness that we engage regularly. As a Minister responsible for human rights, I engage personally with the European Union human rights lead, Eamon Gilmore, and will continue to do so.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, just before Christmas, and after 16 years, the United Kingdom left the EU-led military mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Separately, there are reports that the FCDO expects to cut expenditure on its western Balkans programme from the current £80 million to under £50 million or possibly even £35 million. Can my noble friend the Minister confirm that these reports of cuts are true and, if so, can I urge the Government to reconsider this step, which would have a damaging effect on our influence in the region and with our allies and risk being interpreted as yet further proof that the United Kingdom is turning its back on the EU and the western Balkans?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, we continue to engage on the Balkans. On the specifics of my noble friend’s question, I shall write to her.
International Human Rights Day
Baroness Helic Excerpts(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness and I have had many a conversation on this issue. Of course, the instigation of the national security laws has caused great concern, including about the appointment of judges, which now sits with the Chief Executive. That is a concern. I cannot say what the future holds; that would be mere speculation. What is important is that we continuously remind the Hong Kong authorities of the importance of the independence of the judiciary.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, as we mark Human Rights Day, hundreds of political prisoners, many of them women, are incarcerated by our ally and trade partner, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of them is Loujain al-Hathloul, who has been in prison since 2018. As I speak, she is appearing in front of a terrorism court in Saudi Arabia. I know that the UK Government have raised the case with the Government of Saudi Arabia, but can my noble friend the Minister tell the House what answer was received and what steps will be taken next? Will Ministers use the opportunity of a new Administration in the United States to work actively to secure Ms al-Hathloul’s release and that of other activists like her?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I share my noble friend’s concern. I and my right honourable friend the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa have consistently raised the issue of human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders. At least five women human rights defenders remain in detention in Saudi Arabia. We raise these cases. My noble friend makes a practical suggestion; again, with a new Administration coming in, we continue to look at how we can work constructively with Saudi Arabia in raising these concerns on a regular and consistent basis.