Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they can provide regarding the delay in granting a Permission to Travel Letter to Ukrainian refugee Reference: GWF064289249, given that the two children of this individual have received their Permission to Travel Letters.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We can confirm a permission to travel letter has been issued.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases there are in which Ukrainian family members have not been dealt with by UKVI as one group, resulting in children being granted visas but not their parent, or vice versa; and what assessment they have made of whether children in such circumstances are more vulnerable to traffickers.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Information on the number of visas granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be found in our published data on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Schemes: application data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Information requested that is not contained within this published data is not routinely captured. To capture numbers would require a manual trawl of data and to do so would incur disproportionate cost
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of the disparity between the numbers of visas granted to Ukrainian refugees on the Homes for Ukraine scheme and arrivals in the UK to date.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
There are various reasons why Ukrainians are waiting before travelling to the UK. We know through our partners on-the-ground that some people have applied for visas so they have the option of travelling to the UK but are currently staying elsewhere, for example in countries near the border so they can get back to Ukraine more quickly. Others may have applied to a UK scheme but then decided to stay where they are or travel elsewhere.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 27 April (HL7831), what checks are carried out to ensure that Israeli export goods originate from Israel and not from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian Occupied Territories.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements are not covered by any United Kindgom trade agreement, so do not receive tariff preferences. Should HMRC have reasonable doubts regarding the origin of an imported good, or suspect that a certificate of origin has been erroneously completed, then a verification of the good’s origin can be requested.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of the imprisonment, without charge or trial, of Mohammad Ghassan Ahmad Mansour.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and raise this with the Israeli Ministry of Justice. We call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Israeli forces using a girl as a human shield, and then bombing her home in Jenin, on 13 May.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly the need to protect children. We also regularly raise the importance of the Israeli security force's adherence to the principles of necessity and proportionality when defending its legitimate security interest.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Defence for Children International published on 17 April which found that between 2016 and 2021, 75 per cent of Palestinian children in Israeli detention suffered physical violence, 83 per cent were strip searched, 31 per cent were denied access to a toilet, 59 per cent were arrested at night, and 97 per cent had no family member present while under interrogation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports from Defence for Children International that (1) during an interrogation on 8 February at Huwwara military base, Israeli forces threatened to shoot or hang a 13-year-old; and (2) on 22 February at Megiddo prison, an Israeli interrogator extinguished a cigarette on the arm of a 15-year-old.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that a 17 year old Palestinian boy, Shawkat Kamal Shawkat Abed, was killed by the Israeli military using an exploding bullet.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they require businesses importing from Israel to specify that their products do not originate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The existing United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement requires that goods originating in Israel are declared as such upon import into the United Kingdom.
Goods imported from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are not entitled to benefits from preferential trade and we are committed to maintaining that approach.