Palestinian Territories: Development Support

Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Chapman of Darlington

Monday 1st September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Clearly, what has happened in regard to the students is through no fault of those students—it is a very difficult situation. We are talking to our colleagues in the Home Office, and they obviously—and we understand why—want to make sure that all the necessary security clearances are obtained. That is not easy in this context, and we may well in the next few minutes talk about the medical evacuation of children as well. These things need to be done, and they need to be done responsibly. It is absolutely devastating what has happened to the life chances and educational prospects of some of the brightest and most able young people in Gaza, who, as the noble Lord says, should be making a contribution to the future of their country.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

My Lords, Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken openly of his vision for a so-called “Greater Israel”: a vision of permanent war, illegal settlement and, presumably, the occupation of other sovereign countries. Do the Government accept the reality that Israel seems determined to make a Palestinian state impossible and will continue to expand, at the expense of Palestinian survival and the prospects for peace in the entire region? What concrete action have the Government taken to make it clear that these outrageous plans are completely unacceptable?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

One of the reasons that the Prime Minister made the statement on recognition at the beginning of the Recess was specifically to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive. Some of the actions that the Government of Israel have taken recently have made that less likely and harder to envisage, so we have taken the decision that, should the situation remain as it is at the UN General Assembly at the end of this month, we will take what I think is the hugely significant step of recognising the state of Palestine.

Afghanistan: Women

Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Chapman of Darlington

Thursday 30th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

As my noble friend says, the situation is extremely difficult, and we are relying in large part on our partners on the ground to be able to support women in the most horrendous of circumstances. Let us remember that the ban that she refers to comes on top of laws requiring women to be veiled at all times in public, banning women from singing, reciting or reading aloud in public, forbidding them to look at men they are not related to and strictly enforcing male escorts for women. The situation is intolerable, and it is good that we have supported taking this to the ICJ. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can on the ground to support women in Afghanistan.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

My Lords, the brave Afghan women who peacefully protest against these brutal policies have been threatened, arrested, forcibly disappeared, detained and tortured. Their voices must be heard. They want concrete and effective measures against the Taliban. They do not want the Taliban to be granted any legitimacy and normalisation of their oppressive rule under the guise of engagement—those are their words. Do His Majesty’s Government agree that targeted sanctions, refusal to recognise this repressive regime and unwavering support for women’s resistance in Afghanistan are the minimum actions that the international community must take in good faith?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We are extremely careful about the way that we engage with Afghanistan. The noble Baroness knows that we recognise states and not Governments. On sanctions, we implement the UN sanctions. We have some very limited engagement with the Taliban to bring about some of the changes that we want to see and to make these points about women and human rights, but as she will know, this is incredibly difficult. We are working for the large part through international partners on the ground to make sure that we get humanitarian aid to support people today.

Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Chapman of Darlington

Thursday 30th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is our view that the best way to get aid in as efficiently as is needed is through UNRWA. It is good that some aid has started to get in over the past few days but, without UNRWA, it is very hard to see how that will be sustained. To answer his specific question, yes, we have made that case very clearly to the Government of Israel.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s comments on UNRWA. It is reported that, in the first week of the ceasefire, UNRWA delivered 60% of all food aid into the Gaza Strip. It is therefore very difficult, without any other information from the Israeli Government, to know how they propose to replace that. Or will they literally leave people to starve in the Gaza Strip? We saw the horrific footage of hundreds of thousands of people returning to their land without much to go home to after the destruction there. The need is absolutely critical and, at a time like this, to outlaw UNRWA is completely irresponsible.

Can the Minister say whether the British Government have yet commented on the Trump Administration’s desire to “clean out” Gaza? I note that the French President and the German Chancellor have said that they do not support it and have condemned it. Indeed, in Egypt, Jordan and across the Arab world, it has been condemned and not supported. Will the British Government join those voices and utterly condemn what has been described as potential ethnic cleansing?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We do not agree that the people of Gaza should be prevented from returning to their homes. We are very clear about that. On what the noble Baroness said about UNRWA, yes, it is very difficult to see how the aid will be delivered and received without UNRWA. If there is another way of doing this that can be done straight away, on the scale that we need—clearly, the only important thing is that the aid gets where it is needed, not who does it—it is difficult to imagine how that could be achieved. So we continue to make that case; we know what the date is and what the law says. We will continue to make the case to the Israeli Government, but we are concerned, as the noble Baroness indicates we should be.