Armenia and Azerbaijan

Lord Evans of Watford Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, when I look around your Lordships’ House, that is probably a description of many within it and I am sure that the Foreign Secretary would have a busy schedule if I arranged that kind of expert insight and briefing for him. However, I can assure my noble friend that the Foreign Secretary will be fully aware of the noble Baroness’s remarks, as I always ensure he is, and we will look for opportunities for a full briefing from the FCDO with those interested, and for colleagues in your Lordships’ House to come into the FCDO to meet other key Ministers.

[Lord Evans of Watford (Lab)]

My Lords, may I draw the Minister’s attention to the very important humanitarian issue of explosive mines and mining mats for demining efforts in the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process? I commend His Majesty’s Government for their financial assistance of £1 million for demining efforts in Azerbaijan. Most explosions over the past two years have been caused by mines, and 260 civilian casualties have occurred in Azerbaijan. Clearly, this is a continuing human tragedy. There are 3,890 missing Azerbaijanis, about whom Armenia refuses to release any information. What, if any, discussions have His Majesty’s Government held with the Government of Armenia about the release of fully accurate mine data to achieve cleaning of the territories of Azerbaijan? What further support are His Majesty’s Government considering?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I get the gist of the noble Lord’s question and assure him that we are working with both Governments. First, on the deceased, as I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, this is an important issue to bring closure to those families who have lost loved ones, and we will continue to do so. On demining, I am looking over to the Lib Dem Benches, where the noble Lord, Lord Campbell, is a great advocate for these issues in conflict zones. I am very proud of the UK Government’s support for these activities and pay tribute to the key players in this sphere, such as the HALO Trust, which does phenomenal work on demining across the world. Of course, I will take specifically what the noble Lord suggests and make sure that our Ministers and officials are briefed appropriately.