Press Freedom

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend raises an important point about the protection of journalists. She will be aware of UNESCO’s annual reporting. In 2019, 57 journalists and media workers were killed, and while this is a decline on previous year, it is 57 too many. She raises the important issue of ensuring that we raise media freedom and the protection of journalists in particular, and I assure her that we do this in all our interactions and that it remains a key priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, would the Minister agree that the recent arrest in Egypt of prominent author Ahdaf Soueif, the imprisonment of members of her family, and the continued detention of poet Galal El-Behairy and many others are events of international concern? Will the FCO draw more attention to these human rights violations and the poor treatment of writers, editors and journalists in and outside Egyptian prisons?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the noble Earl raises an important issue. I assure all noble Lords that we raise the importance of media freedom in all our interactions with Egypt. I recall my last visit to Egypt in my capacity as Human Rights Minister, and that was high up the agenda. Most recently, my right honourable friend the Minister for the Middle East raised it in ministerial dialogue in March, including the specific cases the noble Earl highlighted.

Covid-19: Refugee Camps

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, my noble friend is right to raise the issue of the camps—not just the Zaatari camp in Jordan, which I too have visited, but elsewhere in the world. Of course, measures such as social distancing cannot apply in those camps, so we have been applying practical measures such as hand-washing and sanitation facilities. I confirm that we will continue to support refugees across the world, including in our work with the Jordanian Government to support refugees from the Syrian conflict.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, following the question from the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, I know that the Minister is well aware that 5.6 million Palestinian refugees are among those most at risk. Of course, this is mainly because of congestion, so what are the Government doing to respond to the $93.4 million appeal from UNRWA—UNRWA often gets left out of this scene—to make up the shortfall left by the United States?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, of course we are aware specifically of the plight of the Palestinian refugees. The noble Earl will be aware that the United Kingdom has increased its support for UNRWA, and we continue to support that agency for the vital support it provides to Palestinian refugees.

Sudan and South Sudan

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[The Earl of Sandwich]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they give to Sudan and South Sudan among their foreign policy objectives.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, the United Kingdom has taken a leading role in both Sudan and South Sudan. Through our extensive political engagement, we are working with the region and international partners to help ensure a peaceful and credible transition to democracy in Sudan and the implementation of the peace process in South Sudan. We are the second largest bilateral humanitarian donor in both Sudan and South Sudan, supporting those who have suffered years of the countries’ conflict and civil wars.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, I am relieved to hear that Answer, not least because we have many humanitarian workers in both countries, including my noble friend Lady Cox, who has only just returned. Could the Minister confirm that the UK-Sudan strategic dialogue is still in place? That is so important for the rebuilding of society. Will civil society, women’s groups and all those groups outside Khartoum be involved?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I agree with the noble Earl’s point about ensuring that all of civil society is directly engaged. He will be aware that, because of the unrest in Sudan in 2019, the strategic dialogue that had taken place was put on hold. We are looking to review the renewal of that dialogue but, in the interim, our ambassadors and Ministers continue to engage with all parts of civil society and the Government directly.

UK Foreign Policy in a Shifting World Order (International Relations Committee Report)

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Tuesday 21st May 2019 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

I first compliment the noble Lord, Lord Howell, not only on this report but on pioneering the IRC. He, my noble friend Lord Alton and I, as the noble Lord, Lord Jopling, mentioned, campaigned since the millennium to have our own foreign affairs committee. For years the Commons opposed us, fearing duplication, but in the end we reached an entente and the committee has now proved its value to both Houses.

This report, although very wide-ranging, raises important issues of foreign policy, and certainly deserves the attention it is getting today. The key phrase being discussed is the “rules-based international system” and whether it is properly understood. The noble Lord, Lord Grocott, was rightly sceptical about it. The phrase raises the great question of quis custodiet? It reminds me of recent reports of the use of rape as a weapon of war in South Sudan: no rules are being read out to the soldiers who use this weapon. At another level, I think again of the impunity of various maverick Presidents, not excluding the President of the United States; no one seems to be reading the rules to him. So we have to reflect on the almost impossible challenge we have set ourselves in countries where might is still right and neither democracy nor the rule of law can always respond to it—although we can try.

Indeed, any intervention overseas, whether military, diplomatic, economic or otherwise, begs the questions: “Do we know what we are doing?”, “Do we have the right or power to intervene?” and, “Can we ever get it right?” To my mind, there has been a loss of confidence here in the UK—due not to the uncertainty of our ever-shifting attitude to Europe but to the sheer weight and number of issues around the world that crop up on our screens, most of which we pretend to cope with from afar. The noble Lord, Lord Dobbs, touched on that. We do a good job in the circumstances, but are we really effective?

The committee makes valiant attempts to press the Government on the rules-based system, which it says is “under serious threat”. In response, the Government gently reaffirm that they will not lose sight of core values and will reach out, not just to Governments, bilaterally and multilaterally, but to “global civil society”. I was glad to read that last assertion because NGOs and civil society are taken much more seriously these days, and for good reasons. I am also glad to say that our international development programme is now very closely monitored.

The report only touches on international development, which is an important aspect of soft power. But how much of it is deliberate policy, which would be another report? Not a lot of it is, because from Clare Short onwards there has been a lot more emphasis on the community itself becoming responsible for its own sustainable development. I think our latest Minister will take a similar approach. Inevitably, too much aid ends up with government, which in some places may be the only channel of funding, but quality still falls short of quantity. However, with the help of the ICAI and various Select Committees we can get the balance nearly right. I am firmly opposed to any reduction of our budgets within the 0.7% target.

It seems from the evidence that the UK is going to have to work much harder on its relationship with India —other noble Lords have emphasised this. I agree with the report that, in spite of our historic ties, our Government are not paying India nearly enough attention. Student visas is just one of the areas we should review. I know that the Home Office is trying to make up for terrible mistakes after 2010.

Last week, we discussed peacekeeping; 28 May will be the anniversary of the first UN peacekeeping mission, which was to Palestine in 1948. The report is not enthusiastic about the effectiveness of the UN, and reform seems unlikely. Yet in developing countries and in many situations around the world, the UN is all we have.

The Government have parried a lot of questions, quite skilfully, in a long and carefully considered response. I will add another: will they take any new directions following this report? I make one suggestion: what about Russia and the western Balkans, which we discussed in the EU foreign affairs debate last week? Is that still to be a major foreign policy concern after Brexit? Sometimes I feel that we will lose interest in the Balkans.

At the beginning of my speech, I mentioned the two extremes of Governments flouting the rule of law: South Sudan and the USA. What can the world do about either? Diplomacy can do very little about a country that is still in conflict, except offer humanitarian aid and some minor strengthening of institutions. In passing, I must commend the FCO for its robust engagement in Sudan.

At the other end of the scale is the US Administration. They are, supposedly, our ally and “special relation” but the relationship is uncomfortable. What can we do when the elected President of a world power abruptly threatens war in the Middle East and cannot even inform Congress of his reasons and intentions? I agree with much of what the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, said. One day, the President may change his mind, as he often does, and reconsider his attitude to the Iran nuclear deal—he will have to find a deal somewhere. However, his contempt for the UN, the European Commission and the international community is thinly disguised; in fact, it is the obverse of diplomacy.

We are hardly soothed by the FCO reply, which decides not to rock the boat, reassuring us that we will continue to work together on a range of issues. As the noble Lord, Lord Howell, pointed out in his letter to Jeremy Hunt, the response does not engage sufficiently with specific foreign policy decisions that are clearly against our national interests and those of our EU partners.

On Russia, I am not sure that the world order there is shifting at all. Cyberattacks come and go, and Salisbury has left a very bad taste in the mouth. Previous reports from the EU Committee following events in Crimea and Ukraine urged the FCO to rebuild its relations and language skills; I was glad to hear my noble friend Lady Coussins reinforce that point. It would be good to hear from the Minister that this is progressively happening. The report also calls for “better understanding” of Russia. We easily forget how much we have in common with the Russian people, through our shared history and culture. Again, the response to paragraph 85, recommending more dialogue, is muted but that may be relevant to any description of our intelligence and counterterrorist activity.

Western Balkans

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 10th January 2019 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, we have heard a most moving tribute to Lord Ashdown. I want to be the first to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, for sharing that with us.

I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Helic. How fortunate we are that she has brought so much valuable experience of the Balkans to this House. This is a region which deserves special attention in this country. It is not a faraway place; in fact, it remains one of the world’s flashpoints, and we are one of the nations responsible for its stability and security. The noble Baroness mentioned the threats from Russia and Serbia in that region and was focusing on Bosnia and Herzegovina. I can think of no one except the late Lord Ashdown who has voiced such a concern more than once, and we all remember the warnings that he gave us in previous debates about NATO and the Balkans.

I was a neighbour of Paddy Ashdown. We used to meet at Crewkerne station; he preferred it to Yeovil, I think, as it was a bit quieter. I admired his enthusiasm and of course his success as a parliamentarian. The noble Baroness, Lady Barker, mentioned his service in Hong Kong. He continued to maintain an interest in human rights in Hong Kong. My noble friend Lord Alton wanted me to say specifically that Lord Ashdown was patron of Hong Kong Watch alongside my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Patten.

We need to act on the warnings from Lord Ashdown and others but only if we continue to co-ordinate carefully with our European allies after we leave the EU, as the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, said. I have to mention that I travelled alongside her to Kosovo not very long ago, and she is a most persistent questioner of Ministers, not just here but in the Balkans, so I am sure she will get back there.

Essentially, the warnings were about the power of nationhood. We in this island, even with our long history of four nations, can hardly appreciate the strength of feeling between ethnic groups that fought each other only in the last generation. Srebrenica remains a symbol of the worst genocide imaginable in our lifetime, and that community is still devastated and scarcely able to rebuild, although some individuals and charities have done extremely well. Many other towns, such as Mitrovica in Kosovo, which we have visited, straddle a fault-line that will need patching for many years to come if present boundaries are to be maintained.

So we say that only NATO and its related forces can guarantee peace, and only the EU can bring new ideas that should ensure that this peace will endure. We say all that, yet we know the limits of those guarantees and of our outreach.

I will focus today on the concept of EU enlargement, a concept that many of us hope will not be forgotten during Brexit. I have tabled a short debate which will explore our own Government’s present attitude, but we need to look back to the beginning. The UK was one of the principal architects of enlargement within the EU, and it has consistently supported the western Balkans. In fact, our political parties under John Major and Tony Blair had almost formed a consensus on this: that it was important for the EU to embrace a wider Europe, and that was the kind of Europe that suited us.

Freedom of movement and migration became plus factors within our economic policy, and we felt almost closer to the new entrants from eastern Europe than to the growing attempts at unity among the founder members and the eurozone countries as a whole. This in turn has led to an expectation in the region of our continuing involvement, which remains today.

These perceptions were assisted by the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the process of so-called democratisation: the application of the EU’s Copenhagen principles such as the rule of law, human rights and good governance. But there was an underlying business motive too, mixed with pure avarice. We all know examples of this: the potential for western Europe to pour investment into the east regardless of what system was there or what was replacing it, to turn decades of communist philosophy into productive business almost overnight.

It is easy to look back and to blame President Putin for wrecking this dream, but as our own EU sub-committee pointed out some time ago, if Russia now looks like the spoiler, it was the EU that rushed headlong into a region that required a lot more careful planning and handling than was realised in Brussels. Ukraine and Crimea became the wake-up call that brought Europe to a sudden halt. Now we seem to have the old battle lines of a residual Soviet empire to confront all over again.

The idea of enlargement has been discredited, I think quite unfairly, because it remains a sensible policy provided we take it much more carefully and seriously. We have to recognise that ambitious projects like EULEX in Kosovo and the anti-corruption programme in Ukraine may not fit into those societies as easily as we expected. We and the EU have already had to rethink the justice chapters in new member countries like Bulgaria and Romania. Even in the older states like Hungary we have to recognise the effects of migration and the rise of what we call the right wing. They express the fear that many majority and minority communities have of being overrun, wherever they are. In short, Brussels is having to contain the uncontainable and somehow it has to reconcile the extremes.

Ethnic tensions have become such an issue in the western Balkans that there is even an attempt to redraw boundaries. The Presidents of Serbia and Kosovo have been discussing it for most of the past year and more recently in Alpbach, but without any conclusion. The Commission is quite rightly resisting this because it could easily bring more conflagration.

Meanwhile, there is NATO, which has had a much better press than the EU in the Balkans because its activities are more visible and measurable. Open conflict has been avoided so far. Joint exercises all the way from Riga down to Odessa, even with Serbia, have brought confidence.

More difficult has been the confrontation of Moscow’s insidious dirty tricks, most of them mentioned already by the noble Baroness, Lady Helic. There are reports of arms supplies to militant groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the coup in Montenegro, the Serbian propaganda train in Kosovo, the possible subversion of the new agreement on North Macedonia and frozen conflicts all around the Black Sea. Russia needs to keep these in play to make up for its own strategic inadequacies. However, we must be thankful that the OSCE, mentioned in earlier debates, is keeping a close watch on all of this, especially the Ukraine conflict.

It is fair to say that our own parliamentarians have shown a strong interest in the region. I attended part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s recent conference in Portcullis House as a member of its executive committee and I was very impressed by the quality of contributions from the Balkan delegates, many of them women who are current or former Ministers. We have also had a series of reports in Parliament, from the International Relations Committee in January and most recently from the Foreign Affairs Committee. HMG’s responses to these reports show that there remains a very real commitment to the region and to, for example, increased security via the Berlin process, which was one of the achievements of the western Balkans summit.

The noble Baroness, Lady Helic, asked for a well-developed strategy. However, leaving the EU is bound to reduce any direct diplomatic influence we have, for example in the conditions surrounding membership applications. We have yet to see whether, in the next stage of negotiation in April, we can maintain our position in a new form of partnership. That is yet to be revealed. As a remainer, I can only wish the FCO well in this vital endeavour.

Talking of membership applications, I want to ask the Minister something, although he may not have the answer at the moment. Why have we gone back on Kosovo’s visa liberalisation? Are we making every effort through the Foreign Office and the EU while we are still members to facilitate that? It is going backwards, not forwards.

Yemen

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I recognise the points the noble Baroness raises. If we reflect on the history of this conflict, it is incredible when we see people who still persevere, notwithstanding the lack of a political settlement, a peace agreement and access. While we are right to pay tribute to the likes of Mark Lowcock and Martin Griffiths, when we see the courage and bravery in these conflict zones it is also appropriate to acknowledge and commend the work of NGOs, not just from the United Kingdom but internationally. By doing the right thing and supporting humanitarian efforts these volunteers often put themselves on the front line, at great risk to their own lives.

I agree with the point made by the noble Baroness about the generosity of the British people in crises. Yemen has been no different. On 3 April, as she will be aware, we announced an additional £170 million for the current financial year in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, As I was preparing for this Statement I saw that my noble friend Lady Warsi had written an article that, I believe, appeared in the Independent today, reminding us all that this is just the current support we can offer. In view of the famine, and cholera spreading among a young population, I agree with the noble Baroness that, as this peace holds, we should, and will, be looking to increase our efforts to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the country are fully met, so that people can start rebuilding a future.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

As it is nearly Christmas, may I extend my own thanks to the Minister for all the concern that he personally has shown for human rights, as evidenced today, including in his earlier response to the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Alton? It is noted all around the House. Following the question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, on humanitarian aid, my only question is: to what extent has the port of Hodeidah actually reopened? There has never been much of it open, but has the Minister any idea what difference the latest ceasefire has made to the flow of humanitarian aid?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

First let me thank the noble Earl for his kind remarks, but I am just doing my job. I am proud, humbled and honoured to be acting as Minister for Human Rights, among my responsibilities in Her Majesty’s Government—and this job is made all the easier by the expertise, insights and support that I receive from your Lordships’ House. I pay particular tribute to the respective Front-Bench spokesmen—the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and the noble Lord, Lord Collins. It would be fair to say that there are times when we oppose each other, but it is reflective of the unity with which we act on this important principle internationally that this House, and the other place—notwithstanding the difficulties that we have—come together on important issues that unite us. There is no bigger issue than supporting and standing up for human rights and supporting humanitarian causes around the world, and I am grateful to all noble Lords for their constant support in that respect.

The noble Earl raised an important point about Hodeidah, and I can give him the latest statistics that I have, which precede the peace efforts. In November 2018 total commercial and humanitarian imports into Yemen met 68% of the country’s food needs but only 29% of its fuel needs. That second statistic is important, because fuel enables aid to reach the more remote parts of the country, so it is imperative that, as we have reached this agreement, the ports of Hodeidah and Salif remain operational. Yemen relies on imports to meet 90% of its basic needs such as food and fuel, coming through those ports. Returning to an earlier question about the incremental way in which peace can be sustained, retained and strengthened, it is important to see that all parties that have committed to maintaining peace do so around Hodeidah to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid. This is a vital key channel to ensuring that humanitarian aid—food, fuel and medicines—reaches the population of Yemen.

Yemen

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, my noble friend has long personal memories not only of Aden but of the Gulf and Sudan. We are extremely fortunate that he has opened this debate. Yemen has been relatively unknown here since the 1960s and, until the recent Commons debate, has had barely any attention in Parliament. I would also like to declare a family interest. My wife is a specialist on the Middle East and has given me advice on the position of different parties to the conflict.

I join this debate mainly because I am concerned at the acute humanitarian consequences. Who would not be? The Yemen war is one of the most pressing issues today. This is also a debate about Saudi Arabia, and some understanding of the present political confusion in that country is essential. As has been said, the uncertainty comes mainly from the erratic behaviour of the Crown Prince, who is the effective ruler. This man has promised reform, and there have indeed been a number of recognised changes, including benefits for women and the defanging of the religious police. But, as my noble friend said, the negatives far outweigh these: his early power-grabbing and the ill-treatment of many senior Saudis, including law-abiding women activists; his absurd decision last August to recall 8,000 Saudi students from Canada, expel the Canadian ambassador and cut economic ties, all because of tweets from Ottawa in Arabic about Saudi violations of human rights; the kidnapping and forced resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri last year; and the ramping up of the disagreement with Qatar into a regional crisis. Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi men and women are held without trial.

As a result, the Saudi king had already reasserted his authority, even before the appalling and still unexplained murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, an event that has rightly focused world attention on Saudi Arabia. But whether the king has given any hint of a change of policy, domestically or on the war in Yemen, remains to be seen; perhaps the Minister knows—certainly a lot of people are betting on it in relation to the war.

We are told by analysts that peace talks this time really do mean peace talks, and that Saudi Arabia is now confronting a serious deadline offered by the US and the international community. Jeremy Hunt’s famous “window” is presumably based on the premise that the royal family is now so divided by the Khashoggi affair, on top of the turmoil created by his son, that they will have to rethink their position on the war, as on most other things. I hope he is right.

One critical question is whether there is any justification for the latest advance on Hodeidah. My noble friend Lord Slim, with his considerable military experience, says that if Hodeidah was going to be taken it should have been taken months ago. The Saudi-led coalition may still believe that the end will justify the means, but the military argument falls away now we know that the advance has taken so many months, at such cost and without result. This war will not be over soon. It could drag on for years under present conditions, and once resolved, civil wars take a very long time to heal.

Meanwhile, what about the effect on civilians? The evidence is overwhelming that air strikes have had a major impact on civilians. On 9 August, there was an appalling air strike on a bus in Sa’ada, killing at least 29, possibly 40, children. The Saudi coalition, having first said that the air strike was militarily legitimate, later admitted to the Joint Incidents Assessment Team that it was unjustifiable. That is only one of many examples. On 23 August, another 22 children died escaping from Hodeidah. According to the Yemen Data Project, almost one in three air raids have been against non-military targets, and we must not forget that the Houthis are responding with Iranian SAMs and other missiles—this was part of the evidence given to the International Development Select Committee last month. In the past fortnight, over 100 people have been killed in Hodeidah. Thousands of people are currently cut off from supplies and medical aid. A government aid worker here tells me that the bigger push on Hodeidah is just making the risk of famine greater. The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, has already laid out the UN statistics. Altogether there are 22 million in need, 2 million pregnant women and young mothers acutely malnourished, and almost half the health facilities no longer function.

How much hangs on the special envoy? I remember Martin Griffiths from his time as overseas director at Save the Children. In fact, I travelled with him to the Far East. He is a man who likes to get things done, and I would be surprised if this situation fazed him, although it must be one of the most intractable he has ever faced. However, it seems that, without the Houthis at the table, his mission is permanently delayed. He is due to report to the Security Council.

The UK has a special responsibility in this war, and I know that the FCO has pulled the stops out in supporting the peace process up to now. I also recognise that the UK has been a generous donor, as indeed has Saudi Arabia, as one would expect. However, as the UN’s Mark Lowcock pointed out on 30 October, Yemen is on the verge of a serious catastrophe and no one can deny that. As the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, said, we should be making more of an effort. A group of diplomats and experts has written to the Foreign Secretary as follows:

“We urge HMG to … consider where Yemen’s calamity is leading—a crippled economy, destitution, political instability and terrorism … The lack of governance and rampant corruption that have bedevilled Yemen … have been major drivers of the resentments fuelling this war”.


Can the Minister anticipate the Foreign Office reply, because the situation is already critical? The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, put a lot of questions to the Minister, which I fully support.

Sudan

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2018 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, has been a consistent advocate for Sudan and is to be congratulated on bringing us the results of his recent visits. The noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, mentioned that he and I were in Sudan a few years ago as part of a group that visited both the north and the south of the country. I am delighted to learn that the Inter-Parliamentary Union is supporting a visit by the group this September.

Sometimes human rights issues can dominate our debates, so the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, is right to stress some of the more positive aspects of the Sudanese scene. It is good to learn that Sudan is a country that still attracts a lot of attention in the UK. In the all-party group we meet regularly with representatives of the diaspora, besides our own diplomats and other visitors. I know that the Sudanese Government are now much more concerned to be listening and responding to criticism, not least because transparency on human rights has contributed to the lifting of US sanctions. However, the continuing injustice that distorts the political process, fetters the opposition and sustains war in at least three regions can hardly be overlooked.

I intend to focus on the forgotten east of Sudan, where a fragile peace agreement signed in 2006 is coming to an end. The refugee situation has changed since I visited the UNHCR camps for Eritreans and Ethiopians near El-Gadarif and Kassala back in the 1980s, but I know that it is still serious and that some of the same families are still there—rather like the Palestinians. Recently, a large group of donors was able to visit the Shagarab refugee camps and the Gergef reception centre on the border with Eritrea. The donors were able to speak with asylum seekers who had newly arrived and with refugees who have been in Sudan for decades. I am sorry to say that the UK was not represented except through the EU, but representatives from France, Germany and Norway were there.

According to the UNHCR, altogether Sudan hosts 379,000 refugees and asylum seekers, primarily from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen, as well as internally displaced nationals. By May of this year, the UNHCR’s appeal to meet the needs of refugees in Sudan was only 14% funded, which is very low. I hope that the Minister can say that we have given generously to this appeal.

A large proportion of the refugees crossing into Sudan are escaping religious persecution and other human rights violations in Eritrea, many ending up in Europe and in this country. The change of government in Ethiopia has raised some hopes of improvement in Eritrea, but the situation is still bad. I can only summarise what the Mauritian human rights special rapporteur, Sheila Keetharuth, has recently recommended to the UN Human Rights Council. She calls on Eritrea to release all prisoners of conscience, including those in prison for religious beliefs, unconditionally, to put an immediate stop to arbitrary arrests and detention and to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained—more specifically children, the elderly and women.

The EU is hoping to put a brake on migrants crossing the Mediterranean by means of the Khartoum process, a project with which the UK has been closely associated, although we may well withdraw from it because of Brexit. As an all-party group we have already expressed doubts about this project, which sees Sudan, under its emergency law, harnessing one of the most feared government-sponsored militia, the Janjaweed, to back up the police, border guards and others attempting to catch traffickers. The Janjaweed have notoriously struck terror into the people of Darfur and elsewhere through rape, torture and murder. According to the Beja Congress, which has represented the semi-nomadic Beja people for many years, the Janjaweed have immunity granted directly by President Bashir, who is their commander-in-chief. It says:

“Victims who fled from the human trafficking gangs stated that the Janjaweed, after robbing them, deliberately abandoned them to [those] gangs. This means that the Janjaweed, in place of fighting the crime, are involved in it”.


The Beja Congress has its own defence force and receives arms from Eritrea. It also urges EU donors to think about the reasons that drive refugees north in the first place. It says that they,

“should solve the causes of the problems in the countries that export refugees by implementing in them democracy, human rights law and sustainable development, industrial plants and agricultural projects to open opportunities for young people to work in place of dying in the sea”.

In Sudan you can find some of the poorest places on earth and one of them is the region around Port Sudan. The best boast for the Government in Khartoum is development in those areas, which may be the only ultimate cure for migration.

Palestinian Territories

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 7th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Steel, has been in Parliament since 1965 and has espoused many causes since that time, I remember, including Palestine. Like him, I have been a supporter of voluntary organisations such as MAP and I have great pleasure in joining him in this debate. The background is that, while they were remembering those important dates of 1947 and 1967, at least 116 Palestinians, including 14 children, were killed by Israeli troops, and 13,375 have been injured in clashes on the Gaza-Israel border during the weeks since March. That happened during demonstrations against two terrible but distinct situations: Gaza’s deteriorating living conditions and the US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

I visited Gaza as a member of Christian Aid’s board some years ago and I can well remember the conditions there and the organisations involved. We have already heard that ambulances and medical staff were targeted in that event. One of those killed last Friday was a 21 year-old volunteer medic, Razan al-Najjar, from Christian Aid’s partner organisation, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. Razan was shot by Israeli forces as she provided vital medical assistance to injured protesters in Gaza.

I fully understand that our primary concern today is humanitarian. We have heard on that side that the ICRC is sending surgeons and trauma experts and we urgently need to help 11 hospitals to cope with the increased need for surgical equipment, drugs and dressings. For the longer term, the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, mentioned UNRWA, which is in need of more support. However, it is events like these that should also focus the minds of politicians in Israel, in the US and in the EU. There is a much wider danger to Israel involving Hamas, Hezbollah and others, but that is not for today. There was an event in Westminster Hall about Hezbollah yesterday. We cannot expect the people of Gaza to tolerate, as they have, such disproportionate and destructive action for much longer. Many people in Israel too are demanding a rethink of policy, whether it is a two-state or a single-state solution, and I hope that our Government are rethinking their own interpretation of Balfour and what that might mean for a new state of Palestine.

Christian Aid and 12 other aid agencies have made a strong protest on behalf the Palestinians. Many of those organisations are in Palestine. The statement says:

“Palestinians in Gaza are demanding their rights and dignity, which cannot be achieved under permanent closure, occupation and displacement. We call on the UK Government to reconsider its position on the UN-mandated Commission of Inquiry. In addition, the UK Government must call on Israel to fully adhere to its international legal obligations as the occupying power in Gaza, and work intensively with its international partners to bring the closure and the occupation permanently to an end so as to finally realise the rights of the Palestinian people to live in freedom and dignity”.


That speaks for itself.

I have just one question for the Minister about creeping diplomacy. How can we ensure that, with the US decision, our consulate and consulates of the EU will not inevitably be upgraded into embassies?

Myanmar

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2018 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on this debate and I am reminded of many other occasions when she spoke with feeling and authority at the Dispatch Box. I have not visited Burma since it became Myanmar but I have strong memories of the resilience of the Burmese people, whether soldiers or civilians. My host was a Karen war hero in charge of a church programme and a very precarious old Toyota jeep. That visit as Christian Aid’s representative taught me how the Burmese, having endured so much hardship, can combine physical strength with great sensitivity.

Refugees in the Middle East have taken almost all of our attention. Until recently I was ignorant of the details of the Rohingya crisis, though it is one of the worst and most complex the world has known. Close to a million have fled to Bangladesh, most escaping the violence in northern Rakhine state on 25 August only last year. An attack on the border guard police on 9 October 2016 had led to military operations involving serious human rights violations. Among many tragic scenes, the most depressing and distressing have been those affecting young children. Children arriving in camps have described the killing and maiming of other children, their parents and other adults, and attacks on their homes, schools and hospitals. Because of rising numbers, conditions in some camps are now appalling.

A critical question for us and for our Government is ethnicity and the extent to which the Rohingya will be accepted as citizens of Myanmar. They have no status either as refugees or as citizens; they are displaced in a foreign state. They have a “right to return”, but that phrase has a hollow ring this week when we remember what has not happened for 70 years in Palestine. I am among those who still believe in Aung San Suu Kyi’s good faith, in spite of the obvious political deadlock she is in. We must welcome her commitment to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, namely to ensure basic rights for all that state’s communities. Army training and discipline, proper investigation of human rights and the co-operation of Bangladesh through a joint commission seem to be crucial, but inevitably none of this works unless there is a genuine will on all sides to implement those recommendations.

Can the Minister say how close aid donors have come to the UN’s target of $434 million for Myanmar? I know that UK aid has been essential, but can we afford more, knowing that the world has to cope with the needs of some 60 million other refugees and internally displaced people? Many MPs and human rights agencies have spoken out about the barbarity of gender-based violence and rape by the army. Our Parliament and media should be congratulated on making us aware of these atrocities. It was a disgrace that the IDC was unable to visit, but does the Minister think it right to reduce our embassy staff at this time?

I understand that access to northern Rakhine is strictly prohibited, as the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, said, for non-governmental organisations. It seems that even our DfID has been unable to make an impact. Could the Minister confirm this and explain why our Government are apparently unable to work even with British NGOs in an area of such acute need?

There has also been intense fighting in Kachin for several months between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army. Civilians have been victims of airstrikes and many more are trapped in conflict in situations reminiscent of Syria and Sudan. An appeal was sent out last week by humanitarian agencies calling for immediate cessation of hostilities there and in northern Shan. This is another desperate situation. Does the Minister hold out hope for both a ceasefire and greater access to those in need?