Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that the car park of UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza sank in 2014 as a result of subterranean terror infrastructure, and (2) that UNRWA did not investigate this sinking.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any incidents related to UN installations. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that UNRWA did not remove the terror infrastructure beneath Zaitun Preparatory A Boys School in Gaza it discovered in 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any incidents related to UN installations. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent decision by Norway to allow deep seabed mining, what position they will take on the issue at the 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK government notes the Norwegian government's decision of 10 January 2024 to consider awarding licences for deep sea mining exploration and potentially in future extraction on its continental shelf. This area is within Norway's jurisdiction and is not regulated by the International Seabed Authority.
At the 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) the UK will be maintaining its support for a moratorium (announced on 30th October 2023) on the granting of exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects by the ISA. We recognise the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources and are concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. The UK will not sponsor or support the issuing of any such exploitation licences for deep sea mining by the ISA unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems.