Iraq: Camp Liberty

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I can confirm that five residents have already been readmitted to the United Kingdom. They had refugee status in the United Kingdom and had relevant documentation. A further 52 do not have current regularised documentation but have had refugee status in the United Kingdom before. We are considering those applications, but I am sure that noble Lords would agree that time has passed since these people left the United Kingdom and their coming back in. It is right that we consider what they have been involved in in the mean time to ensure that any concerns that we may have are properly addressed.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, is it not the case that this business has been hanging on for far too long and does the noble Baroness agree that the United States has a considerable responsibility in the matter, having given Camp Ashraf people protected status?

Syria: Olympic Truce

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Hylton]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will propose within the United Nations that steps be taken to apply the Olympic Truce in Syria during at least the period of the 2012 Games, and if possible for the traditional 100 days.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford)]

My Lords, we are committed to the Olympic Truce’s ideals of conflict prevention and peace. In the case of Syria, the six-point plan of the joint special envoy, Kofi Annan, sets out clearly the steps to a ceasefire. This has not been implemented by the Syrian regime, despite its undertaking to do so. We are therefore pressing for full implementation of the Annan plan to stop the terrible violence in Syria and allow a Syrian-led political transition.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. It seems that the Annan plan has not been accepted in any way by the Syrian Government. Will Her Majesty’s Government consider barring access to this country for the Olympic Games to Syrian athletes, officials and even spectators unless they agree to a truce?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

Anyone applying to enter the United Kingdom is treated according to our Immigration Rules. If an individual is currently the subject of a European Union or UN travel ban, they will not be able to come to the Games. However, I emphasise that this is a matter that relates to individuals, not to teams generally, groups or nationalities. I repeat: accreditation to the Olympics will be refused to any individual who may present a safety or security risk, or whose presence at the Games or in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.

Middle East: Recent Developments

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Friday 13th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, so far no one has succeeded in stopping the bloodshed in Syria, whether it be the Arab League, the United Nations or anyone else. Perhaps it is just conceivable that applying the Olympic Truce during the period of the Games could provide a pause for the negotiation of a transition of power. With Russian and Iranian help, this could happen. Next Monday I will be asking an Oral Question in your Lordships’ House on this issue, and I will therefore say no more on it now.

I turn now to two cases where independent arbitration could be helpful if the parties would agree to it. The first relates to Sheba’a farms that are a matter of dispute between Lebanon, Syria and Israel. It is a dispute about a small frontier area whose resolution could clear the way for wider peace negotiations. The second issue is the boundary between Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government. The longest part of this boundary is known and accepted, but in the north it affects oilfields and large cities.

I come now to the most important issue, which has been touched on by most speakers—namely the position of Israel in the Middle East. I can say confidently that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and no doubt elsewhere, understands perfectly well the need for peace and stability. It needs to rebuild its tourist trade and relaunch its economy. It has to attract inward investment. When you add the urgent problems of health and education, most of all in rural areas, no Egyptian Government could want war, especially the broad coalition of religious, secular and minority partners that will, I hope, emerge. Even if the military retain much power in Egypt, I believe that the principles of the Camp David agreement will be upheld. The Muslim Brotherhood will not make empty promises to the Palestinians that it cannot fulfil. Israel, on the other hand, will have to comply with the spirit and the details of that agreement.

More than half of Israel’s population has its origins in the Middle East or north Africa. When one adds in the indigenous Palestinian citizens of Israel, there is a large majority whose culture is more Middle Eastern than European. These are the people who will, I trust, want to see their country take its rightful place in the region. The Government of Israel have a strong majority in the Knesset and no elections immediately ahead. They therefore have a huge opportunity to normalise relations. This indeed was the big point of the Arab League’s initiative of 2002.

There is so much that Israel could contribute industrially, commercially and in technology, as was eloquently pointed out by the noble Lords, Lord Haskel and Lord Stone. The partial peace provided by the treaties with Egypt and Jordan was a cold one. It now needs to be replaced with the warm relationships of peoples across frontiers. Israel has a highly developed civil society, ideal for this purpose. Whether new deep relationships can develop will, however, depend on how the Palestinians of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza are treated. If nearby Arab peoples see that their Palestinian cousins are still occupied, colonised and blockaded, what chance is there of a response to even the most enticing Israeli approaches? The existence of so many colonies in the West Bank, the position of the separation barrier, attempts to alter the population balance in east Jerusalem and, above all, the collective punishment of Gaza by blockade have been condemned by the international court judgment, by UN resolutions and by countless reports from specialist agencies and parliamentary visitors.

A strong Government, such as Israel now has, could surely put an end to illegal and provocative behaviour—for example, the relative impunity of settlers, house demolitions, the treatment of the Bedouin or land registration in the West Bank. The recent legal report on the arrests and sentencing of Palestinian children has already been mentioned.

In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi said of the Jews:

“They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs. They should seek to convert the Arab heart”.

Even if the present Israeli Government forget such prophetic words, the non-Jewish friends of Israel should persuade them. The Jewish diaspora throughout the world should act now. Will they emphasise that true security lies in peace? Will they restrain the zealots and the extremists? Will they explain how Jewish brains can help Arabs to turn dreams into solid achievements? That is the challenge. Will both friends and diaspora rise to meet it?

I give the last word to a distinguished German-Jewish woman, Sabine Stamminger, who said, “Respect works”. I urge Her Majesty’s Government not to give up on peace throughout the Middle East, however difficult it may be, because it will have implications for generations yet to come. Our Government should use all possible means—the Olympic Truce, arbitration and, above all, leadership and the mobilisation of world opinion. The wars and conflicts have major religious roots. The moral imagination of the great Abrahamic faiths, as well as traditional political and diplomatic skills, must therefore be used. These faiths will, I trust, convince world opinion that peace is far better than the unjust and immoral status quo.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, like other earlier speakers, including my noble friend Lord Williams of Baglan, I shall speak about the Middle East and the Arab spring. I suggest that it is too soon to dismiss the latter. Demands for personal dignity or honour will not just go away, but will find ways to express themselves. Islamic politicians, once in office, will find means to address the real needs of their people. The United States, on the other hand, now sees most of its old policies in ruins. That is true from Turkey to Egypt to Iraq. Its enemies in Iran and Syria manage somehow to survive, even if under great difficulties. As to Iran, it would be good if Britain and the EU could help to lay the ghosts of the US embassy siege and the more extreme anxieties over nuclear weapons.

Egypt, as we all know, has the largest population of any Arab country and is in many ways the pivot. What, I wonder, has the United States gained from its huge annual military subsidy? Perhaps only poverty and discontent. It would be rash to forecast the future. So much will turn on the results of the elections for president, the willingness of the military to hand over to civilians and on the balance between the president and the parliament. Could a large IMF loan for inward investment and the unfreezing of blocked state assets together improve the economy in a big way? That would be in everyone’s interests. I note that the unfreezing issue is both urgent and delicate because of its colonial overtones.

Following my noble friend, I now come to Israel. How do the Government interpret the addition of Kadima to the existing coalition? Will the next 18 months be used to create the conditions for peace? Will illegal acts and provocations by settlers and others be reduced and, if possible, eliminated? Will the blockade of Gaza be ended? Will military occupation of the West Bank be reduced, and will the status quo in East Jerusalem be maintained? I suggest that all such acts could produce very favourable reactions among both Palestinians and Arab states.

The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, made a most important speech which should on no account be overlooked. She underlined the practical problems arising from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, not to mention the continued blockade of Gaza. I join her in urging the friends of Israel here, in the United States and in Europe, to stop defending every action of every Israeli Government. Instead, they should campaign against illegal and provocative acts. That is absolutely necessary if Israel is to be accepted as a normal part of the Middle East, making a vital contribution to the prosperity of the whole region. I do not expect the United States to exert itself significantly until a new Administration, of whatever colour, is fully installed next year. Until then, perhaps the United States could quietly encourage Palestinian national unity.

Meanwhile, there is much that Her Majesty’s Government can be doing. We should continue our traditional diplomacy, promoting our basic interests, which happen to coincide with the common good of the Middle East and north Africa. We should remember the positive impact of all strands of our considerable soft power—reference was made to this by several speakers this afternoon. By contrast, our military exports create no prosperity at all. I suggest that soft power includes a full understanding of the relevance of religious faith to behaviour, culture and politics.

A more prosperous Middle East is a vital concern of both Europe and the United States. Unless increased employment happens in all countries, but especially in the larger ones, the fruits of the Arab spring will be bitter indeed. It is very much in the interests of the oil and gas-producing states that employment and prosperity should rise throughout the whole region. If well used, their sovereign wealth can produce good results. The sooner this can start, the better. The task is urgent. I trust that Her Majesty’s Government agree that we should all address it in the most co-ordinated way possible.

Israel: Palestinian Hunger Strikers

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Tuesday 15th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

As my noble friend knows very well from her expertise, these are very early days. We have only just heard about the deal being reached. Although it is true that it does not cover the ending of administrative detention for all but only for a limited number, it seems—together with the new arrangements for family visits from Gaza and the ending in most cases of solitary confinement—a very constructive move. We will be watching closely, as no doubt will the entire international community—and certainly the Palestinian authorities—to see that the deal goes forward. I shall look into the particular points that my noble friend raised. It is early days, and we do not quite know exactly how the arrangements that have been announced will affect the kind of categories that she described.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, will the Government congratulate the Government of Israel on their apparent intention to improve prison conditions? At the same time, will they urge the Israelis to end administrative detention, especially as far as it concerns democratically elected representatives?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

Congratulations are certainly due to all parties concerned, and indeed to the Egyptian authorities that brokered the deal. As long as it can hold—and those who have all the details will know exactly what is implied—it sounds good news, and congratulation is in place. As to extending the proposal to the ending of all detention, that may be a phase that we could see in future. It is the sort of thing that we will certainly continue to raise, but first let us see the details of this new deal and hope that this is a foundation and open path for better things, including possibly even the reopening of negotiations.

Middle East

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Friday 16th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Soley, about the importance of soft power in the Middle East. I trust that this debate will help new thoughts and insights and moral imagination to emerge concerning the Middle East. I will concentrate on two aspects: Syria and the future for the Palestinian and other refugees.

The terrible situation in Syria has been sufficiently described today that I do not need to repeat its details. In that context, however, it is good that 60 countries have declared themselves as friends of Syria. But an assembly of such large numbers is far too large to make practical plans to bring about a ceasefire or to facilitate political negotiations. What is surely needed is a much smaller regional group of those most immediately involved. Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq are the close neighbours, where many Syrians have taken refuge. Israel and Iran also have very direct interests, as do Russia and the United States. It may not be possible for such a small regional group to meet, but perhaps Mr Kofi Annan could receive the views of these neighbours on behalf of the United Nations and act as a link with the Syrian authorities. I would be grateful for the Government’s thoughts on such an approach, which has not so far been tried. I hope that no one will react with horror at the mention of Iran. Its inclusion might just possibly generate some more reasonable attitudes to other issues.

I come now to the Palestinians. They are just as much entitled to self-determination as any other people. I say this whether they are now living in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza or in exile nearby. There are in fact some 6 million Palestinian refugees, mainly in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. For reasons of balance and justice, we should also think about those Jews who were expelled from Middle Eastern countries, or who left voluntarily but without compensation for their properties. Most of them, although not all, are now safely settled in Israel.

These thoughts have a direct bearing on the much-debated question of the right of return. Because of the limited capacity of both Israel and the West Bank, let alone Gaza, to absorb further people, the right of return may have to be strictly limited to spouses, parents and children. Family reunion may have to be kept for the closest relationships. Those Palestinians not eligible for family reunion should be offered a choice: either to remain in their present host country, with, if possible, citizenship; or to accept resettlement in a state that welcomes immigrants. The process of resettlement should be made easier by compensation for lost or abandoned properties.

On this compensation and resettlement, I suggest that there should be symmetry and that each side should be responsible for its own people. Jewish organisations and funds would thus compensate the surviving Jews who left Middle Eastern countries without compensation for their properties. Arab states and funds would compensate Palestinians who left their homes, again without compensation. Even after compensation, many Palestinians would be left who did not wish to remain in the host country and who could not return to mandated Palestine. These will, of course, include many descendants of the original refugees. They would have to become the responsibility of the richer and more developed parts of the world, and need help to move to states open to settlement. Such moves would be to the long-term benefit of the receiving states. They would also remove from the Middle East a large number of unassimilated people whose very existence has caused tension and strife.

I accept that solutions of these kinds would be difficult, but I hope not an impossible task. The key might be to help people of working age to move, in family groups, with their old and young dependants. Refugees, including those from Iraq, for whom the West has a heavy responsibility, are the elephant in the room—everyone prefers to look the other way. Now we cannot afford to ignore it any more. So let us have the vision to turn a festering problem into a situation where everybody wins.

Hungary

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

We certainly recognise all the concerns that the noble Baroness has put forward, and it is right that we urge change. The European Commission released its analysis of the compatibility of Hungarian legislation with the EU treaty obligations on 17 January. The acute concerns that the noble Baroness has mentioned are valid. We submit that the Commission’s approach is a sensible and constructive handling of the situation. That is our position.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, Hungary is also a member of the Council of Europe. Do the Government consider that the new constitution is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly as regards freedom of conscience and freedom of association?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

That is an important matter to consider and we will consider it. Obviously, a number of processes are at work here. We are dealing partly with the European Union and the Commission and partly with the track that the noble Lord has outlined and pointed to. We will focus on that as well.

Christians in the Middle East

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Friday 9th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, I am pleased to follow my next-door neighbour in London and also to agree with the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, who said that it was a privilege to take part in this debate. I agreed very strongly with the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury when he said that Christian communities had played a vital part in the Middle East over the past 2,000 years. At the moment they are also very vulnerable and we must all do our very best to work with the leaders of the Arab spring in the direction of human dignity and common citizenship for all.

It is a sad fact that the indigenous Christian communities of the Middle East have declined in numbers for many decades. They have shared this experience with other religions. Jews, Ismailis, Ahmadiyya and Baha’i have all suffered varying degrees of discrimination and sometimes outright persecution. In this situation it is important and urgent not to demonise all Muslims or to insist on there being a necessary clash of civilisations. Many Muslims understand their faith as one committed to peace, and in particular to respect for the peoples of the book, chiefly Jews and Christians.

Just like many nationalist movements, political Islam is made up of a wide spectrum of points of view, from the completely non-violent, through those who justify self-defence, to others who seek world domination, and on to a small minority who insist on their right to use force and even terrorism to achieve their aims now. The concept of jihad, or holy struggle, has many shades of meaning: some see it as a purely personal striving for self-control and righteousness; others understand it as a collective effort to end ignorance, poverty and disease; some believe that force should be used to defend Muslim communities and lands; and a small minority think that aggressive wars are acceptable for spreading the faith or converting pagans. This minority is now probably less strong and less influential than it was, following the heavy losses suffered by al-Qaeda and the progress made by the Arab spring.

After this analysis, I should mention that I have met members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, Amman and London. I would place them firmly in the non-violent part of the spectrum, even though in the past some of them took part in acts of terror. They seemed to me not unlike the Christian Democrats of France, Germany and Italy, who tried to give political expression to their faith after resisting the crimes of the Fascists and Nazis. In the Middle East, both Hamas on the Sunni side and Hezbollah on the Shia side believe in self-defence and national liberation when faced with occupation and blockade by armed enemies. The Salafists, who model themselves on the companions of the prophet, with their fellow travellers in Europe, hope to spread Islamic political control and to create a modern caliphate based on Sharia law. The extreme part of the spectrum contains the world revolutionaries and terrorists.

I have tried to describe the background to the situation of Christians in the various, widely differing, countries. Diplomats who have lived in the Middle East will know this background in depth; others, such as advisers and sometimes even Ministers, who have grown up in secular, individualistic societies, still have much to learn. They have to appreciate the importance of religion as a force able to mobilise collective behaviour. Socialism and pan-Arabism have been tried and have failed; religion, however, remains and makes a political difference, whether in Israel or in the Arab and Muslim world.

I turn now to Iraq, which I have visited three times in recent years. There have been indigenous churches there since the days of the apostle Thomas. They use Arabic and Aramaic in their prayers and services. Under Saddam Hussein, Christians were safe and sometimes held high office, although of course they suffered, with others, the terrible casualties of the war with Iran and the hardships imposed by sanctions. My noble friends Lord Alton and Lady Cox have given chapter and verse on what has happened to the Christian communities since the fall of Saddam Hussein, so I will not repeat that, but it is a certain fact that the Christian communities are now much diminished in numbers and live in varying degrees of fear. Today, there may be—whatever the figure is—something less than 0.5 million Christians left in Iraq.

In these difficult conditions, my friend Canon Andrew White, who is an Anglican who has already been mentioned several times, has worked consistently since 2003 for national reconciliation. He has brought together all the religious leaders who, as a result of coming together, have managed to overcome their traditional differences and are now quite in the habit of working together. They have issued previously unheard of joint Shia/Sunni fatwas against suicide bombing and attacks on religious minorities. These nationwide appeals have reduced the level of sectarian violence. They have been widely reported in the media and are now being reinforced by smaller meetings at provincial level. I am very glad to say that the Foreign Office and the British Embassy have supported this spreading of the message of mutual respect and civil harmony. Lives have undoubtedly been saved as a result. I urge us to keep up our support, remembering our interest in stability and peace. I mentioned earlier how important it is to recognise the impact of religious beliefs, especially in the Middle East. It is good that this is now becoming officially accepted. It can be useful in many conflict and post-conflict scenes, such as Iraq. Religious support could also be helpful in resettling refugees, whether those who have left Iraq or the millions who have now been away from their homes in Palestine for decades.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

My noble friend is right. There are 106 recommendations in the EPG report and many more in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group report. There are funding implications for the Secretariat and for the machinery of the Commonwealth, and we are looking at those very carefully. We will have to evaluate them and decide what we can do, given the inevitable limits of resources. One also has to remember that a large part of the Commonwealth is both bilateral between Commonwealth countries and, even more important, separate from government. The unique nature of the Commonwealth is its huge latticework of professional, business, scientific, medical and judicial relationships that exist in no other multinational organisation. Those, too, will need to be developed and encouraged.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that bilateral relations between India and Pakistan have been frozen into almost Cold War attitudes ever since those nations came into being? Would the Perth meeting not be a very good opportunity for getting them to thaw out a little?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

One naturally hopes and, indeed, urges that the Commonwealth can provide an envelope in which to resolve tensions of that kind between countries which, although fellow members of the Commonwealth, may have very different agendas—indeed, even hostility to each other—but that issue is obviously between the two countries concerned. Their highest representatives will be at Perth; I hope that they can get together at that and other opportunities to resolve the problems that face those two great nations.

Building Stability Overseas Strategy

Lord Hylton Excerpts

Thursday 6th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, I join in the thanks that have been expressed to the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing and introducing this debate. It is good to be able to welcome a joint paper from three government departments. I hope that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will study this in relation to our military exports.

I suspect that the work of producing this paper may have been more important than the document itself. The paper has a wide focus on the whole world, so it can seldom be specific. However, in just one paragraph, 3.5, it mentions that by 2025—that is, in 14 years’ time—2.8 billion people in 48 countries will be facing water shortages. The signs are already obvious. The Aral Sea, for example, is largely dry. The Jordan is reduced to a trickle, while the Dead Sea has receded by several hundred yards. I saw this myself last year. In China, the Yellow River now seldom reaches the sea and some Pacific islands have to rely on imported bottled water. All these examples are mainly caused by human activity.

At the same time, the world’s population is rising steadily and will do so for some years before it is likely to level off. Climate generally seems to be getting more extreme so that some areas have serious and disastrous droughts while others suffer typhoons, hurricanes and floods. The stresses and tensions over resources are likely to get worse.

If one looks at eight of the world’s major rivers, all flow through two states and many traverse three or four. The fresh water in them is crucial for human consumption and for food production, as well as for other uses. In some regions there are already consultative processes for discussing water use and allocation but in others nothing is set up. Already the Euphrates and Tigris are causing much concern. In Turkey, more irrigation and more hydro-electricity are planned. Downstream in Syria and Iraq, some former farmland is turning to desert, whose production cannot be balanced by just increasing irrigation.

The report, rather charmingly, speaks about “investing in upstream prevention”. Will the Government take this both seriously and literally? Will they discuss with the major riparian states the need to establish dialogue and consultation on whole-river strategies for co-operation? Is this something that the Commonwealth could usefully promote among its members, not only in Africa but also, and especially, in the context of détente between India and Pakistan? The report is helpful in setting down what we mean by conflict and suggesting that this becomes problematic only when it turns violent. Some countries, which might otherwise be quite prosperous, such as Colombia, have a tradition of civil war.

The report goes on to mention frozen conflicts. In my experience, in Moldova, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the conflicts frozen following ceasefires almost always have an external as well as an internal dimension. I suggest that interested external parties should not be called upon to act as mediators. Will the Government concentrate greater effort on resolving frozen conflicts, especially when British NGOs are already involved? This also makes sense because the unresolved conflicts cause poverty and make people migrate, as we have seen, for example, from Armenia, Moldova and Kosovo, the last of which we debated on 15 September.

The report ticks many important boxes, such as the role of women, reducing corruption, justice and law enforcement, or political reform in the Arab states. It speaks of helping to build strong, legitimate institutions able to manage tensions, and it mentions the EU, the OSCE, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States. Of those, nearly all have their own internal weaknesses. They have nevertheless made a start, and regional groups for preventing war and other disasters should be encouraged everywhere.

I conclude by posing a more fundamental question. In Britain, we still have memories of the days of Empire, when our sea-power enabled us to impose our will in most parts of the world. In today’s circumstances, should we not adopt a narrower focus and select those regions where we can best contribute to preventing violence and promoting good government and economic prosperity? Would we not be more effective by concentrating our efforts on, say, south-east Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and perhaps the Horn of Africa? We have historic responsibilities arising from the Middle East but also much local knowledge and expertise. Progress towards resolving the long outstanding issues of Israel and Palestine would be a huge benefit to our interests, not least in reducing the motives for terrorism and in helping the Arab spring to produce worthwhile fruit. Progress, I believe, is likely to depend on work with the many shades of political and public opinion as much as on negotiation between the elites in government in the various countries.