Ukraine

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Friday 25th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome this important and timely debate to demonstrate, once again, the United Kingdom’s steadfast support for Ukraine. I warmly welcome the tone and substance of the detailed introduction by the Minister—the noble Lord, Lord Coaker. I align myself totally with what he said so powerfully and the words of my noble friend Lord Courtown and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith. I also acknowledge the wise words and wisdom, insights and expertise of the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup. A bit of learning for Ministers: listening to him was something that I found extremely beneficial. I associate myself, as have others, with the condolences expressed to the family of Corporal Gill.

I also look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Spellar. The noble Lord and I have known each other for a very long time. We were in different Houses until recently and remain in different parties, but we share many insights into the world stage and he will bring great expertise and knowledge to the field of international affairs.

I also express my gratitude and take this opportunity to put on record the work undertaken by my dear friend the former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, His Excellency Dmytro Kuleba, who recently left office. We had our first meeting back in 2019, before Russia’s illegal invasion but, when this tragic war began, we co-ordinated our activities as he ably, consistently and passionately made the case for countries to stand with Ukraine, as we are demonstrating again today. He discharged his duties, notwithstanding the challenges and pressures he faced, with devotion, dedication and —importantly for a diplomat—a deep sense of calm. I am sure I speak for all in your Lordships’ House who wish him well in his future endeavours.

I will focus specifically on the United Kingdom’s support for victims of sexual violence in this conflict. I had the honour to lead this agenda for the last seven years and, during this time, the UK has shown clear leadership. I met many survivors across the world, indeed survivors of sexual violence from Ukraine. Those, like me, who hear these experiences feel the shock of their testimony turn to sheer awe and admiration for their immense courage and resilience.

In Ukraine, our support for these brave survivors of sexual violence has spanned several areas. From investigations and accountability, the UK has supported efforts to ensure, both through the FCDO and the MoJ, that we work closely on financial and technical assistance, including support to the International Criminal Court. On training and capacity building, the UK offered specialist training for local and international organisations, involving documenting and addressing sexual violence. Of course, in the area of humanitarian aid, the UK has contributed aid specifically to support victims of sexual violence, including psychological and social medical services.

In this regard, I pay tribute to the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. I worked closely with her for many years, as we sought to see how the UK could best support these courageous survivors. In the multilateral space, the UK again worked resolutely with Ukraine on resolutions. I recall the launching of the Murad code at the UN Security Council in April 2022, a gold standard for Governments and NGOs on collecting and protecting evidence to ensure justice for the victims of sexual violence. In the hours before the launch of this important code, we worked at breakneck speed to ensure that it would be available in the Ukrainian language. The previous Government also worked extremely closely with the Office of the Prosecutor General, as we sought to build the infrastructure and systems to ensure that accountability would be possible and perpetrators held to account.

In providing this brief summary, I look to the Minister—the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman—for her ironclad commitment that our support for Ukraine in this important area of protecting and supporting victims of sexual violence is upheld. Perhaps some of the additional financing that has been announced can be allocated to some of the initiatives that I have underlined. Will she share with your Lordships’ House what meetings have been held with Ukrainian interlocutors on this important agenda since the Labour Party entered government?

The Minister is aware that, in November 2022, the UK hosted the international conference of PSVI. I launched and was honoured to serve as the first chair of the international alliance. There are 26 members; Colombia currently chairs and Ukraine will take over in 2025. I would welcome an update on the progress made to support Ukraine in this regard as well. The Minister may expect this, but we are now four months into the term of the new Government, so I implore her to take forward the announcement of the appointment of the Prime Minister’s special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict.

The noble Lord, Lord Coaker, referred to the recent BRICS summit hosted by Russia and the senior level of engagement there. What assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the role that we can play in the delivery of President Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan as the framework and foundation to ending this tragic war in Europe?

Afghan Special Forces Relocation Review

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

This review dealt with the Triples; interpreters and others were outside its scope. For people who are making or have made asylum claims, there are opportunities for them to claim asylum through those processes, and there are appeals processes within that. The interpreters and others that the noble Baroness mentioned were not within scope of this review.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome this review and pay tribute to my ex-right honourable friend James Heappey for initiating it. The FCDO and the MoD worked very closely together with the Home Office on all resettlement schemes. May I ask the Minister specifically about the role of Pakistan? While I have heard the reassurance and we have a good working relationship on the ground, one of the challenges the previous Government faced on the ACRS, which the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, alluded to for interpreters, was that a visa was issued to those eligible for resettlement by the Pakistan Government, but there is a time limit on it. That was to ensure that we have British officials on the ground in Pakistan to verify the process, so that those getting nearer to the time deadline are not then returned to Afghanistan. I welcome the tone and the substance of this Statement.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, for the work he did on this, and for his general welcome and question. If noble Lords will forgive me, because it is such an important question I am going to read an answer, which is unusual for me. It is important that this is accurate with respect to Pakistan and the question from the noble Baroness. I apologise for this, but it is important that we get this right.

We are in regular contact with the Government of Pakistan and we are very grateful for their continued assurances that ARAP-eligible Afghans who have completed their security checks will not be deported. If an individual in scope of the review has their decision overturned, they should be offered the same level of protection from deportation from Pakistan. We are engaged in ongoing constructive dialogue with the Government of Pakistan over the ARAP scheme.

We have explored every avenue to try to extend protection from deportation enjoyed by Afghans in Pakistan. We have confirmed eligibility and completed security checks for those in scope of the review while it is under way. While we have not been able to find a mechanism for achieving this on the UK side, we are grateful to the Pakistan authorities for their continued assurances that ARAP-eligible Afghans will not be deported. Indeed, to my knowledge, no Afghan with confirmed ARAP eligibility has been deported from Pakistan. We look forward to their ongoing support as we relocate Afghans to begin their new lives in the UK.

I apologise for reading that, but it is important to be completely accurate.