Central African Republic and the Great Lakes Region

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, whose Question enables me too to focus on the human catastrophe and humanitarian emergency that continues to enfold in a country little known outside France—the Central African Republic. It is a country that has been unstable for most of the time since its independence from France in 1960 and its history is characterised by a callous disregard for human life. I am talking about what is clearly a failed state where there is violence, anarchy and little evidence of international attention, a country where for 10 years there has been civil war, relentless poverty and a succession of coups, which means that the population now show signs of deep trauma, and aid workers are being targeted.

The CAR has for far too long been a forgotten country suffering from a forgotten crisis. Now, at last, there are some signs of unprecedented attention, given in particular by my noble friend Lady Amos and, indeed, by the European Union Humanitarian Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who has both visited the CAR and has been at the vanguard of efforts to increase international awareness of the suffering of that country. People are starving. They are resorting to the eating roots and leaves of manioc plants. They rarely have access to clean water. There is no functioning health service. Malaria is a major killer, especially of children, accounting for 70% of paediatric deaths. HIV prevalence is the highest in central Africa and life expectancy is 48 years. Women have suffered rape, abduction, torture, mutilation and other crimes, all inflicted with impunity.

Last March the self-styled Seleka rebels seized power. There has been a state of lawlessness ever since with large-scale attacks on civilians. Looting and murder is widespread. The Seleka has failed to investigate or prosecute any of the abuses committed by its own members. The UN has now made a response. Adama Dieng, UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and John Ging of OCHA have recently briefed the United Nations Security Council after a harrowing visit to the CAR. Mr Dieng reported that Muslims and Christians were inciting violence against each other and expressed concern about this new dimension to the conflict. He did indeed speak of the possibility of genocide, in what he described as a “tinderbox” and a country where,

“the scale of suffering is among the worst in the world”,

and where a daunting host of problems impede delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The Security Council was briefed last December on the effects of the Seleka rebel offensive and there have been regular briefings since then, yet no effective action has been taken. Can the Minister explain why there has been such a failure to act? The CAR is not yet Somalia, but the signs of endemic instability are there and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is predicting a full-blown conflict unless urgent action is taken to establish the rule of law and give humanitarian access to people who have such desperate need. Could the Minister give an estimate of when exactly the proposed AU 3,600-strong peacekeeping force is likely to be deployed? Since the promise made last July, less than half the troops in that country have been deployed. Is it not clearly the case that this number is hopelessly inadequate in a country that is more than twice the size of France?

The CAR has huge mineral resources, as the noble Baroness said, including diamonds, gold, uranium and copper, and oil deposits have just been discovered along the border with Chad. This fact in itself is surely a compelling argument for taking more interest in the CAR. Naturally, Seleka leaders are now already benefiting from tapping into the lucrative extractive industry and are controlling the diamond mines. Another deeply worrying factor is that arms are flooding into the country. The flow of AK47s has now been followed by rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weaponry. The UK is the fourth largest European exporter to the CAR and is a key supplier of arms to the unstable region of central Africa, including Sudan and Chad. Now the Seleka rebellion has been boosted by heavily armed fighters and warlords from Chad. Would the Minister clarify the current UK position on sending arms to the CAR? What, for instance, is the justification for the export licences? Finally, what we should be doing this evening is agreeing that the people of CAR deserve to be offered the hope of a better future.

Sudan

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I thank the noble Baroness for keeping this House up-to-date with what is normally the most up-to-date information on Sudan and South Sudan—usually because she has just visited once again. Of course there is immeasurable suffering taking place in Sudan; 3 million people have been displaced or affected by various internal conflicts. It is felt that the way to deal with these matters is through the United Nations Security Council, which regularly addresses this issue: it discussed this matter only last Thursday. We feel that the best responses are, first, through UN peacekeeping; secondly, through humanitarian assistance; and thirdly, through concerted international efforts led by the African Union, all aspects of which are supported by the British Government.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Lab)]

My Lords, what response is likely to be given to the increased violence taking place in Darfur and the planned reduction simultaneously in the number of UNAMID personnel? Will urgent attention be given to the need for a more viable and inclusive process to replace the much discredited Doha process? Can we expect Darfur civil society and local stakeholders to be directly involved?

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. Of course, 10 years after the start of the conflict, the situation in Darfur remains serious. We have been pressing the Government of Sudan to honour their commitments. I understand the concerns that the noble Baroness has about the Doha peace agreement, but that is the framework within which we are working at the moment, supporting the efforts of the African Union and the UN joint chief mediator to engage the armed movements and encourage them to end violence and not to obstruct the peace process. We continue to give support, predominantly through humanitarian aid, of which a large chunk goes into Darfur.

Burma

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Wednesday 5th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that the recent human rights report on Burma concluded that ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have taken place against the Rohingya? In view of those views, does she agree with the conclusions? A simple yes or no answer will suffice and will tell us all we need to know.

[Baroness Warsi]

I think the noble Baroness will be aware from her own experience as a Minister at the Foreign Office that it would be inappropriate for me to give a simple yes or no answer to a report that clearly needs to be supported by further independent investigative work. I am, of course, hugely concerned about the concerns raised in that report, and our ambassador has already raised them with the Burmese.

Burma

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Thursday 28th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness, as always, comes to these Questions with the most up-to-date information that could possibly be obtained, and I thank her for the enormous work that she does in Burma, as well as in many other places around the world. Our policy is one of constructive engagement on human rights, and ethnic reconciliation is a central part of that. I can assure the noble Baroness and the House that we take the humanitarian challenges in Burma extremely seriously. Indeed, the Minister with responsibility for Burma, Hugo Swire, when he visited that country, travelled to Rakhine state with a view to making representations to the regional governments as well. It is a matter on which we continue to press the Burmese Government and on which our ambassador there is hugely engaged.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, when the EU common position on Burma is reviewed, as it will be in April, what position will the Government take on the EU sanctions that were suspended on the specific understanding that there would be progress on human rights and democratic reform in Burma? Is it not the case that in many respects human rights violations have significantly increased, especially with the Rohingya and Kachin, as the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, has said? Is it not the case that the Government should therefore support the reintroduction of some of the measures that were suspended, and resist efforts to lift sanctions completely unless and until there is significant progress on these issues?

[Baroness Warsi]

As the noble Baroness will be aware, the sanctions were suspended in April last year, and it was made clear at that stage that they would be lifted only if the Burmese Government was measured positively against the benchmarks set by the Council conclusions of earlier that year. Those benchmarks are that there should be free and fair elections, and that there needed to be progress on political prisoners and ethnic reconciliations. These matters will be discussed again in April this year but, as the noble Baroness is aware, for those sanctions to remain suspended or not to be lifted requires unanimity at the EU level. We in the United Kingdom will be pressing for those measures, those benchmarks, to be tested against the Burmese record.

Ethiopia and Eritrea

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My noble friend makes an important point, and I think all noble Lords in this House would agree that a legitimate Government and stability in the region are essential. We can see from what has happened in Mali and Algeria that it is absolutely essential for us to support a democratic process to resolve border disputes. We have been working with the United Nations and the European Union to try to ensure that these countries continue to speak to resolve their differences. As my noble friend will be aware, the Boundary Commission report of 2003, which is the document that lays out the internationally accepted agreement on that boundary, has still not been implemented.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, Eritrea is governed by one of the most secretive and repressive regimes in the whole world, which uses forced labour and is under UN sanctions for its continuing support for al-Shabaab, a self-declared affiliate of al-Qaeda in Somalia. Will the Minister join me in condemning that regime? Will she tell us why the Foreign Office has facilitated a London meeting between the Eritrean Government and a range of mining and investment companies? Does she really think that this is the best way to impress on the Government of Eritrea the need to respect the freedoms and human rights of its people?

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness will be aware that the Somalia and Ethiopia monitoring group, which reported in 2012, very much raised some of the concerns that the noble Baroness raises here today. Eritrea continues to flout UN sanctions; that is why we continue to support them. The regime has huge human rights issues, which is why we continue to raise those matters whenever we get the opportunity.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My noble friend is aware that MONUSCO’s mandate does not permit it to engage in more than a supportive role at this stage. However, I take his concerns on board. He is right that there are 19,000 MONUSCO troops in the area and the UK has committed £69 million to those troops this year. He will also be aware that the deputy force commander of MONUSCO is a Brit, who will continue to ensure that it is as effective as it can be with a correct mandate.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that if the violence rape and humanitarian crisis in the DRC are to end, it is essential that international and regional partners, which have been discussed during this Question, move away from what I can only call a reliance on short-term fixes? Does she further agree that, in order to achieve durable solutions, the UN Secretary-General should appoint a special envoy to engage with Kinshasa, regional Governments and civil society, and especially with the women of eastern DRC?

Rwanda

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Wednesday 21st November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I cannot comment on the last question that the noble Lord raised but, in relation to aid, in 2012-13 we have committed £75 million, of which £29 million is general budget support. The noble Lord will be aware that in July of this year, because of certain concerns that were raised, a £16 million tranche of general budget funding was not given over until September and, at that point, £8 million was given over as general budget support but £8 million was redirected to education and food. The next tranche is due in December and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development is looking at all these matters.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, does the Minister have a view on how the Security Council could accept yesterday that M23 is getting external support but then perversely claim that it lacks evidence? Does she agree that it need look no further than the new, well documented evidence provided by Human Rights Watch on Rwanda’s provision of, for instance, logistical support and sophisticated weaponry to M23?

[Baroness Warsi]

We were heavily involved in that presidential statement at the United Nations Security Council yesterday. It was important that we raised our concerns, and we raised them. As the noble Baroness will note from that report, the support given to M23 is not entirely clear. Reference was made to it by the United Nations group of experts’ report via a leaked report. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on that leak, but these are matters that we continuously discuss with Rwanda.

Burma: Ethnic Nationalities

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, we welcome and make much of the progress that has been made in Burma, especially in relation to the emerging of democracy. However, it is right that we regularly raise our concerns about matters where we feel that progress is not being appropriately made. Indeed, on her historic visit to the United Kingdom, these matters were raised with Aung San Suu Kyi.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, the UN has described the Rohingya people as among the most persecuted minorities in the world. In view of that reality, why have the UK Government been silent and inactive about the callous treatment by Bangladesh of the desperate Rohingya arriving on their shores? Will HMG now press the Bangladeshi Government to offer at least temporary refuge and access to humanitarian aid instead of sending thousands of Rohingya back to sea and to appalling danger?

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, the Government have been neither silent nor inactive on this matter. In fact, I personally raised it with the Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, only a few weeks ago. We continue to press this matter. The former Secretary of State for the Department for International Development raised it earlier this year in a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. We have specifically raised the issue of being allowed to deliver aid to the refugee camps where the Rohingya community live.

Sudan and South Sudan: EUC Report

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Grand Committee

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, I, too, pay tribute to the commitment shown by the EU Committee to the situation in Sudan and South Sudan. We have been provided with a very welcome opportunity to take stock, which Members here this evening have shown they are very capable of doing. I, too, welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, and wish her well in her new role. I pay tribute, too, as the noble Lord, Lord Alton, did, to the work of the noble Lord, Lord Howell.

The misery and suffering of the people of Sudan and South Sudan is relentless. There are continuing insecurities, humanitarian crises, lack of resources and grave shortages of food. Roads are not being constructed, despite the fact that they are crucial to building unity, security and economic development in that country. Education and health systems are not functioning and water and sanitation needs are not being met. In fact, South Sudan is really living on the edge of disaster and faces perpetual and manifold crises and emergencies.

Against that background, the African Union-promoted agreement, guided by Thabo Mbeke’s African panel made in Addis last month, is worth applauding, as noble Lords have done. But all success now depends on its full and faithful implementation and the urgent use of what could be a brief and positive period that we have now to address outstanding issues. Building a functioning and legitimate South Sudan Government is obviously essential to efforts that have to be made to manage the expectations of the people of South Sudan and to deliver essential services to those who have waited such a long time. Now, even in the context of the insecurity and humanitarian crises in border areas, it remains vital that this work is supported consistently and continually by all donors. Transference to the state is just not happening and clearly, dependence on NGOs has to be reduced.

Central to delivery of sustainable change in South Sudan is that the citizens of that country see the Government in Juba being able to deliver basic services locally across the country, using their own local authorities. Action means so much more than words and intentions when the needs are clearly so great. Traditional authorities must be involved, while at the same time strengthening the role of the state.

This is after all a country where 200,000 dangerously malnourished refugees from Blue Nile have arrived in the past, and where thousands of southerners have returned since 2010. In South Sudan, the health needs are substantial: cholera, measles, meningitis, polio, river blindness, sleeping sickness, yellow fever and whooping cough are all prevalent. It remains the case that what services exist are largely delivered by humanitarian and other NGOs funded by donors. As the noble Lords, Lord Cameron and Lord Curry, have said, the level of dependence in South Sudan is simply not sustainable or desirable.

Can we at last anticipate an end to the flip-flopping between humanitarian aid and development aid, which we have seen for far too long? Most recently, donors—including the UK, I have to say—pulled out of developments following the oil shutdown. However, as soon as that oil deal was reached, they started talking about development aid, and working with government systems. Now we see that current and urgent humanitarian concerns have simply been obscured or ignored completely.

There is a widespread perception that aid is being used in South Sudan as a mechanism for political conditionality, when what the Government of South Sudan really require is an understanding from donors that they need consistent and reliable support. Development and humanitarian aid should never be used to hold a government and people to ransom, because for practical as well as moral reasons, one should never be at the expense of the other.

On the European Union’s engagement, we should certainly support the fact that the EU institutions and member states have agreed to work together to produce a joint strategy paper on the implementation of programmes. However, if it is to be meaningful, it is essential that sectors are identified and donors complement each other in the implementation of that country’s strategy. On paper, this is of course agreed as part of efforts to increase EU aid effectiveness. However, one official was quoted as saying that they agree on something and then each member state continues to do its own thing. It was ever thus. This, I regret to say, includes what I see to be a reluctance demonstrated by the UK to forcefully and enthusiastically join co-ordinated efforts to draw up an all-European Union position.

The preoccupation of European Union member states with East Africa, Palestine, the Amazon, the Sahel, Syria, Yemen, the DRC and Mali—depending on what your various colonial connections happen to be—mean that priority is just not being given to South Sudan. That is clearly and repeatedly reflected in the agendas drawn up by the Foreign Affairs Council. Therefore I ask the Minister: will the UK Government make every effort to push Sudan and South Sudan up the agenda at this very critical time?

Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, the head of the delegation in Juba, and Dame Rosalind Marsden, the EU special representative, are both doing an excellent job. The delegation and the embassy are up and running, with plans to co-ordinate these efforts. I commend urgent action, especially when the potential for advancing peace and security is great, but the possibility of a descent into disaster is ever present in any fragile state, and of course that remains the case for South Sudan.

In November, South Sudan will join the Cotonou partnership agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the EU, and will access European development funds. Very importantly, it will also join ACP partners in what is called the “Everything but Arms” market access agreement with Europe.

Other noble Lords have raised the concerns that we share about the need for peace and security in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Is it not time to do more and end the ambivalence about the clear need for a more strategic approach to deal with these crises, as a number of noble Lords have said? After the Addis agreement, I am afraid we are continuing to see more of what is really just a “wait and see” approach, which has frankly brought nothing more than paralysis in the whole system.

After 18 months of efforts to negotiate humanitarian access, nothing has changed for the people affected by these conflicts. Is it not time now to explore alternatives to repeated failed attempts to negotiate with Khartoum? I also ask the Minister whether she would agree that the efforts to negotiate have failed and diplomatic efforts need to be substituted with a different approach. Many thousands of people are suffering in these areas, and we know full well that the Government of Sudan have absolutely no intention of protecting civilians suffering from starvation. Will the Minister tell us whether any consideration is being given to delivering cross-border aid without the permission of Khartoum? If noble Lords around the Table here were honest, we would say that this is already happening through the efforts of civil society, international partners and, yes, Governments.

When fruitless diplomatic toing and froing has not achieved anything, it is time for the tripartite partners to take effective action. All of this is made more emphatic by the fact that food is being used as a weapon of war. It is time, recognising the realities, that action is taken to deliver food and aid immediately and urgently. The special representative of the UN Secretary-General confirms that progress has been made in South Sudan. Many noble Lords have been, I think, extremely pessimistic and cynical perhaps about what has happened in South Sudan for some, and maybe many, understandable reasons. However, having read a recent report by the UN Secretary-General’s special representative, I will say that state institutions have been strengthened, and militias and rebel groups have been integrated into the national army. Nevertheless, a great deal needs to be done to protect civilians and to broker peaceful coexistence among feuding tribes. Demobilisation is a massive challenge. The salaries of the army, police and other forces make up more than half the budget, and donors and the Government must focus on this challenge of change.

South Sudan now has a new legislature made up of a Legislative Assembly and a Council of State, and there seems to be a real appetite for strengthening and developing the country’s institutions. Work is in progress on new laws, developing political parties, elections and a constitutional review. These are major tasks for an infant democracy. It is surely realistic to understand that it is going to take time. It is also going to take time for the current Government to build the maturity that state-building will demand. The Government of South Sudan also have to insist on increasing transparency and accountability, by introducing new and clear standards of conduct in government.

Corruption must be fought with vigour and elected politicians must be constantly reminded of their obligation to be accountable to the people they serve. All this may seem like a very tall order but many of us who have followed Sudan, and now South Sudan, over many years and other crises in developing countries know that these issues are well worth supporting and encouraging. I hope that we will have future meetings on reports from the European Union Committee which will confirm that these things are happening and that change is taking place for the people of South Sudan.

International Criminal Court

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

It is very difficult to ascertain exactly what is happening on the ground. No one could expect there to be full information, full access or full details. However, we fully support the work of the ICC in bringing Bosco Ntaganda to justice and bringing additional charges against him. I think the implication of my noble friend’s question and the preceding one is that somehow the ICC should have further powers over and above the existing situation in which national Governments have to seek to co-operate and take the initial action. That, of course, would raise fundamental questions about the workings of the ICC and whether we should go back to square one and revise the legislation. I do not believe that we should; I think that we should give the present process more scope and more encouragement. However, I understand what is behind my noble friend’s question.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, given that crimes against humanity are defined by the United Nations as,

“a widespread attack on a civilian population”,

does the Minister not agree that Robert Mugabe should be investigated by the prosecutor and subsequently indicted by the ICC? Is it not tragically clear that there is evidence of his responsibility for the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s that were committed by his army brigade, continued state-sponsored violence against political opponents, and ongoing atrocities in the diamond fields in Zimbabwe? What pressure is Her Majesty’s Government using to ensure that this wicked man faces international criminal justice?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I do not dispute anything that the noble Baroness has said, with her acute understanding of the situation there. However, the realities are these: Zimbabwe is not a party to the Rome statute and to get an ICC charge against Mr Mugabe would require a UN Security Council resolution. That means getting past all five of the permanent members. We know what the view of some of the permanent members is: they should not take such action. Until we can get past this problem of the permanent five, and particularly the reluctance of China and Russia, to name two, to see these matters taken up by the UN and remitted to the ICC for charges, these people who have committed most unsavoury acts—the noble Baroness mentioned Mr Mugabe as one—are outside the reach of the ICC.