Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the attempt to normalise relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia based on the five principles Azerbaijan recently offered to Armenia; and the role any non-cooperation from Armenia may have played in hindering such normalisation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government welcomes the steps that Armenia and Azerbaijan are taking to normalise relations following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is monitoring developments closely. In his meetings with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Ambassadors, on 29 and 31 March respectively, the Minister for Europe and North America, the Rt Hon. James Cleverly MP, reinforced the need for substantive negotiations without preconditions to secure a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the conflict. The UK Government will continue to encourage the parties to engage in negotiations to secure stability and security for region.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, the Foreign Secretary has had with her Armenian counterpart concerning the release of data about Azerbaijanis who went missing during hostilities in the 1990s.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government continues to urge the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to settle all outstanding matters related to the conflict, including the return of the remains of the deceased from the 1990s and the return of prisoners of war from the most recent conflict. This was most recently raised by the Minister for Europe and North America, the Rt Hon. James Cleverly MP, in calls with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers on 1 and 4 March respectively.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reopen the diplomatic mission in Afghanistan; and what discussions they have had with the government of France concerning a joint mission.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We intend to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul as soon as the security and political situation in Afghanistan allows, and are coordinating this effort with allies. We are in regular contact with the French Government.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to provide official channels to support charities sending aid funding to Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
On 22 December, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2615 which added a humanitarian exception to the sanctions regime established by resolution 1988 (2011), enabling the provision of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The UK government is now working as a priority to update the relevant UK legislation to implement this exception. The UK government continues to work closely with the UN and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to ensure that UK aid benefits Afghans in need while meeting our international obligations. We are providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the UN, NGOs and the Red Cross Movement on the ground, who are continuing to ensure vital aid reaches those who need it most. We have made the humanitarian situation and access a major subject of our engagement with the Taliban. We continue to monitor this closely.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given in collaboration with the United Nations about granting an exemption from sanctions for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan; and how they and international partners will monitor the effectiveness of any agreed resolutions.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
On 22 December, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2615 which added a humanitarian exception to the sanctions regime established by resolution 1988 (2011), enabling the provision of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. This resolution will help save lives, by ensuring that the 1988 sanctions regime poses no obstacle to the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan. This directly responds to what the humanitarian community told us they needed. The UK government is now working as a priority to update the relevant UK legislation to implement this exception. The UN will report on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan while the exception is in place.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Armenia on sharing mining maps and data with the government of Azerbaijan to facilitate the process of de-mining.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Minister for Europe and Americas continues to raise with both Governments the importance of the return of all missing persons, the return of the remains of the deceased and the return of mine maps. She did so most recently in her meetings with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors on 4 and 17 November respectively. We welcome the most recent returns of prisoners of war in exchange for mine maps. The UK continues to urge both Governments to settle all matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiation under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Armenia on sharing information with the government of Azerbaijan about Azerbaijanis who went missing during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Minister for Europe and Americas continues to raise with both Governments the importance of the return of all missing persons, the return of the remains of the deceased and the return of mine maps. She did so most recently in her meetings with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors on 4 and 17 November respectively. We welcome the most recent returns of prisoners of war in exchange for mine maps. The UK continues to urge both Governments to settle all matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiation under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the environmental impact caused by the fire on the X-Press Pearl on the coast of Sri Lanka; and what support they have provided to the government of Sri Lanka.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK government remains concerned about the environmental impact caused by the fire on the X-Press Pearl ship. While the risk of an oil spill is now considered low, plastic pellets and other debris are affecting the shoreline. We have engaged regularly with the Sri Lankan authorities and international experts on the ground to determine how the UK can best support the response.
The UK government is providing marine pollution expertise to Sri Lanka to help respond to the potentially devastating impact on the marine life and coastal habitats of Sri Lanka. The UK will also provide expertise and analytical capacity to support plastic pollution monitoring, as well as environmental and socioeconomic impact assessments. The UK's Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science will partner with Sri Lankan Government Departments, academics and responsible authorities to support effective emergency response and implementation of a post spill integrated monitoring plan.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will (1) list each nation to which they have delivered AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as part of the World Health Organisation COVAX programme, and (2) list the quantity of vaccines they have delivered to each nation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As of 15 June, COVAX had delivered 87 million doses to 131 participating countries and territories. UNICEF is supporting COVAX with the delivery of these vaccines, and details of what each country has received in terms of doses and quantities can be found at https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashboard.
Asked by: Lord Sheikh (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to deliver 600,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to the government of Sri Lanka, to enable the availability of second doses amongst the population of that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK government is concerned about the Covid-10 situation in Sri Lanka. The Minister for South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon discussed this with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner on 10 May and with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 17 June.
The UK has consistently stressed that we are all facing the same pandemic and the threat of further waves and variants of the virus makes cooperation between all our partners and the UK ever more vital and important.
The UK remains committed to equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines, COVAX remains best-placed to allocate vaccines fairly and to where they will be most effective. The UK was one of the earliest and largest donors to COVAX donating £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment. Our early funding gave COVAX the purchase power it needed to secure deals with manufacturers to supply internationally-approved vaccines for up to 92 low and middle income countries. So far, COVAX has helped deliver over 81m doses to 129 countries and territories, including Sri Lanka.
The Prime Minister announced on 11 June that the UK will donate 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines within the next year, with 30 million of those donated by the end of 2021. 80% of the vaccines donated will go to COVAX. This was part of an agreement with G7 partners to donate 1 billion doses by June 2022. We will set out more detail in due course and will continue to discuss with G7 partners the ambition to end the pandemic.