Tigray Conflict: Axum

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, on the noble Lord’s final point, we continue to work with Ireland and indeed, on 15 February, the Foreign Secretary spoke with the Irish Foreign Minister. On the issue of unfettered access, unfortunately, while commitments have been made, that is not the case. Access to Tigray remains very challenging even for humanitarian agencies.

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the 24 Hours for Tigray global lobby started at noon today and either is hearing or is about to hear from young women discussing the trauma of rape being used as a weapon of war. Given the statements in the Amnesty International report about the extent of this war crime, and with International Women’s Day very much in everyone’s mind, what assurances can the noble Lord provide that the many reports about the alleged rape of women in Tigray as part of the war will be taken up and that there will be justice for them?

Tigray Conflict

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

As the noble Lord knows from his previous role and as he highlights, Ethiopia plays an incredibly important role in stability across the region, not least through its contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations. A prolonged conflict could have further implications for regional stability in the Horn of Africa. I am very happy to meet with the noble Lord to discuss refugees.

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a patron of Action on Poverty. The clock is ticking down on the threatened 72-hour ultimatum for the military assault on Tigray, where bombings and massacres have already driven 40,000 Ethiopians to flee to Sudan. What are the Government seeking to achieve from the imminent UN Security Council meeting to pull back the threatened offensive? What further steps are the Government planning to ensure free, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the Tigray region and give the refugees the support they need?

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, I share the noble Baroness’s concern about the reports on the imminent push. As I say, we have been, and are delighted to be, supporting the UN Security Council to discuss the issue. Our objective is for the parties to de-escalate, to ensure the protection of civilians and to avoid further spillover into the neighbouring regions of Ethiopia. Of course, ensuring access for humanitarian actors is essential; we have pushed, and will continue to push, for that. As I said, the refugees desperately need our help.

Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I am delighted to support this statutory instrument. In the words of Bill Browder, this is a great milestone in the campaign for justice. I pay tribute to Bill Browder and the Magnitsky family who have been working together for 10 years, leading the international effort to establish Magnitsky style laws around the world. Now, in honour of Sergei Magnitsky, the UK has taken a significant first step towards dealing with the global corruption he exposed that cost him his life. I hope it is just a first step. We need co-ordinated action to accompany these sanctions if they are going to have an impact. They must be consistent with our wider foreign policy.

In welcoming this SI, I would like to ask the Minister three things. First, is it applicable to individuals from any country, not just on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office list of countries of concern? Secondly, will Government consider including as criteria the repression of democracy and the rights of assembly and freedom of speech?

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to add my voice to that of other noble Lords calling for action against Chinese officials over the persecution of the Uighur people. Does the Minister agree that the UK should sanction the Chinese officials responsible for this genocide and expand the list so that many more people in China who are responsible for perpetrating these abuses are indeed held responsible?

Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Friday 10th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I too am pleased that these regulations are before the House today. Half of all the plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years. Plastic production has increased exponentially; so much so that, every year, about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste escapes into the oceans, killing and harming millions of fish and animals, and ending up in our air, food and water. These regulations are a step forward and I support them, but it is only a step forward. The pandemic has, understandably, interrupted progress on tackling the plastic problem. These regulations have been delayed and the plastic bag charge has been lifted. We cannot let this temporary pause become an excuse for ongoing inaction. I want to ask the noble Lord about the bottle deposit return scheme, which is also delayed. When will this legislation come forward? Is it the case that the Government are now reconsidering this scheme, due to pressure from the industry?

Hong Kong: Human Rights

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)]

My Lords, in the time available I will ask the Minister for a number of clarifications. As regards the visa extension scheme, I understand that the trigger for the extension is the text of the law being published. Will the Government bring forward the detail of the scheme before it is triggered so that action can be taken immediately? As my noble friend Lady Jay of Paddington asked, can the Minister clarify whether the scheme is for current BNO passport holders? If so, is or was there a cut-off date for applications, or is it envisaged that the scheme will be extended to all those eligible to apply?

This scheme does not solve the problems for many people in Hong Kong or the long term, so what other actions are being considered? Can the Minister set out why the Government seem to be resisting an international contact group or a UN special envoy for Hong Kong? These seem to be sensible suggestions that have widespread support.

Finally, I join the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, in his call for Magnitsky-type legislation for the UK. This is long overdue. We should follow America’s legislation and have our own legislation in this area.

Covid-19: Repatriation of UK Nationals

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend speaks from experience as a former Minister for the Overseas Territories—a job that I enjoyed; it was sometimes challenging but in the main enjoyable. First and foremost, I assure her that the overseas territories, which are British territories, have been discussed at the highest level of government—at the international inter-ministerial group, which continues to be chaired by the Foreign Secretary, so it is being discussed at the highest level. In terms of specific responses, we have deployed Crown agents to look at the equipment that is needed in response to the coronavirus. All the inhabited territories—with, I think, the exception of Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands—have been given direct support with equipment, and, through Public Health England, we are speaking to the Chief Medical Officer in each of those countries. In relation to my noble friend’s second point, we are giving technical support to ensure that needs are met. From her time in office, she will be acutely aware of the security challenges. For example, we have already supported the security efforts in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and we talk regularly to all representatives of the overseas territories. I am certainly working very closely with our noble friend Lady Sugg, who is doing an admirable job in this area.

[Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s reference to the arrangements with PIA. However, I tried to help a friend to get her elderly parents back home from Pakistan. She experienced continual cancellation of flights, woeful communications and rising ticket prices. Therefore, will the Minister consider a specific review of the repatriation process from the Indian subcontinent? Also, I know that the booking portal for charter flights from India is currently closed and that people are on a waiting list. Will more charter flights from the Indian subcontinent be provided if people still need to be repatriated?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

In answer to the noble Baroness’s second question, the short answer is yes. This is demand led. For example, initially we had flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. We commenced the programme in those cities for logistical reasons—to ensure that permissions were received for charter flights. A large proportion of British travellers are still seeking to return from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, and from Amritsar in the Punjab, and we will continue to operate flights. The portals were closed to ensure that we could clear the wait-list, which is still operational. I assure the noble Baroness that an email link to the high commission is now being offered to those who still wish to register but who did not meet the original deadline date for registering themselves on the database for returns. We have made a commitment to return those who wish to come back to the UK, and we will continue to meet that demand in India.

The noble Baroness, rightly, referenced Pakistan and Pakistan International Airlines. We have talked regularly to the chairman of PIA. She will know that I was directly involved in the case that she referred to. I have also been involved in discussions with the Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi authorities and at a local level— I have been ringing Chief Ministers to ensure that we get local permissions. Perhaps I may just put this in context. For every passenger who is returned from India, for example, the level of detail that we have to go into, because of the curfews that have been imposed, is such that we have to provide every local authority with details of every vehicle that is used to ensure that we can get British travellers to the airport on time to catch their flight. Our diplomats are not expert travel agents, but I can tell noble Lords that they have learned a great deal from the repatriation efforts. I am sure that all noble Lords will join me in commending them for their excellence—notwithstanding the challenges, which we are seeking to address—in what they have done and continue to deliver.