Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic situation in Sudan since the loss of revenue following the establishment of South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The process that led to the establishment of South Sudan in July 2011 included an agreement on the division of resources and assets with Sudan. This included an agreed 75% reduction of the Government of Sudan's pre-2011 oil revenues, which at that time accounted for the majority of Sudan's foreign exchange earnings. The current economic situation in Sudan is fragile with frequent reports of fuel and food shortages, currency deflation and price inflation creating significant pressures on the people of Sudan. This has been exacerbated by a shortage of foreign exchange. We continue to encourage Sudan to undertake macroeconomic reforms which are essential to making progress towards debt relief and to economic stability for the benefit of the Sudanese people.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the stability threshold requirements and other conditions imposed by the UN resolution (2429/2018) which led to the reduction in UN Mission in Darfur forces were satisfactorily met by the government of Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Outside of Jebel Marra the security situation in Darfur has evolved since 2016 with reductions in overall levels of conflict. This change is reflected in the decision of the United Nations Security Council in June 2017 to reconfigure the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The security situation remains relatively stable, but fragile. Our priority is to ensure that changes to UNAMID's operations match the realities on the ground, with appropriate review points, and ensure that a smaller more flexible UNAMID is able to fulfil its mandate. We are calling on the Government of Sudan to make progress on key priorities identified in the United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement S/PRST/2018/19. We have also urged fellow Security Council members to monitor closely the impact of UNAMID's reconfiguration, and consider whether the situation on the ground remains conducive to further changes.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s resolution of 18 May that the use of force by Israel in Gaza was disproportionate and indiscriminate.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is concerned about the high number of deaths and casualties during protests in Gaza, including the volume of live fire used. The Foreign Secretary, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa and I have all raised the use of force with Israeli authorities. The Foreign Secretary spoke to both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas on 16 May, where he encouraged them to call for calm and work to de-escalate the situation. There is an urgent need to establish the facts; the UK continues to fully support the need for an independent and transparent investigation into recent events. We call directly on Israel to carry out a transparent inquiry into the Israeli Defense Forces' conduct at the border fence and to demonstrate how this will achieve a sufficient level of independence.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government for what reasons they abstained from voting on the resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council held on 18 May, calling for an independent investigation into recent violence in Gaza.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We abstained on calls for a Commission of Inquiry into recent violence in Gaza because the substance of the resolution was not impartial and balanced. We could not support an investigation that refused to explicitly examine the action of non-state actors such as Hamas. An investigation of this kind would not provide us with a comprehensive assessment of accountability. However, the UK continues to fully support the need for an independent and transparent investigation into recent events. We call directly on Israel to carry out a transparent inquiry into the Israeli Defense Forces' conduct at the border fence and to demonstrate how this will achieve a sufficient level of independence. We believe this investigation should include international members. We urge that the findings of such an investigation be made public and if, wrongdoing is found, that those responsible are held to account. The Foreign Secretary stressed the importance of Israel conducting an independent investigation when he spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu on 16 May.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts to prevent and address sexual violence in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, and of the processes in place to ascertain and record the culpability of perpetrators.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (DFID) colleagues are urgently assessing the UN-led sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) response on the ground, including the level of identification and outreach, clinical management and what additional support the UK may usefully provide. DFID have funded the deployment of an international expert to UNFPA in Cox's Bazar to lead the Gender-based violence Sub-Sector, part of the UNHCR-led Protection Sector of the international humanitarian response. We are in dialogue with the Coordinator to better understand the level of incidence, response and coordination and associated challenges.
There are few agencies on the ground with the capacity to clinically manage and support cases of sexual violence. In part this has been due to a lack of resources but a more significant factor is the lack of agency capacity. Médecins Sans Frontières has the single most important capability for clinical management of rape. UNFPA also remains a significant actor. The International Organization for Migration, UNHCR and partners are also providing care to survivors through its health centres across the camps and spontaneous settlements. Their focus is currently on outreach and identification of cases for clinical management and support, though population mobility is rendering this challenging. We are urgently discussing with the UN Secretary General's Special Representative and humanitarian organisations in situ capacity for evidence gathering and how the UK can support this work too, including the possible deployment of experts from the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Myanmar regarding its reported complicity in the torture, rape and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya people.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has been clear about the need for the Burmese authorities to end the violence in Rakhine. He has made these points in telephone conversations with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 7 and 17 September and with the Burmese National Security Advisor and Deputy Foreign Minister at a meeting of foreign ministers he convened at the UN on 18 September.
The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific met Burma's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 20 September at the UN and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma on 27 September, and reiterated the same messages.
The UK has led international efforts on Rakhine. The UK has raised Burma three times at the UN Security Council (UNSC) since the outbreak of violence. The UN Security Council has called for the Burmese authorities to stop the violence and allow humanitarian access. We are actively engaged with other Council members to work on further necessary action.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance will be given under the proposed Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The thematic breakdown of Conflict, Stability and Security Fund spending was provided in a Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2015 by the Minister for Government Policy at the Cabinet Office, which was repeated in the House of Lords on the same day by the noble Lord Wallace of Saltaire (HLW379). For reasons of national security, we cannot provide specific details of allocations for partner countries.Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund will be allocated for survivors of sexual violence in conflict zones.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Seven million pounds has so far been allocated to Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative activity in 2015-16. We are currently finalising subsequent allocations.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent decision by the government of the United Arab Emirates to designate as terrorists organisations including United Kingdom-based charities.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The list provided by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) included a broad range of different groups, numbering 85 in total. Some of the groups listed by the UAE are also proscribed in the UK. The list of groups proscribed in the UK is attached and is also available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations--2.
Three of the groups listed by the UAE are based in the UK: Islamic Relief UK, the Cordoba Foundation and the Muslim Association of Britain. These groups are not proscribed in the UK. We are seeking further clarity from the Emiratis on their rationale for some of these designations, and any practical implications.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations, if any, they have made to the government of the United Arab Emirates in respect of the inclusion of Islamic Relief on its recent list of banned organisations.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are seeking further clarity from the Emiratis on their rationale for some of these designations, and any practical implications.