Conflict in Ethiopia

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Westminster Hall

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Sir Gary. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) for securing the debate and opening it so brilliantly. I thank all other right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions; it has been an excellent debate.

The devastating conflict in Ethiopia has lasted for two very long years. As my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury stated, some estimates suggest that as many as half a million people have died, including hundreds of thousands of civilians. The ceasefire agreement could simply not come quick enough and Labour is deeply grateful to the diplomats who have worked to secure it, most of all the African Union and its representatives. We need to face the reality that the chaos in the Conservative party over recent months has weakened the UK’s international voice, but now we need to look forward. I hope the new Minister will tell us how the Government will deepen the UK’s support for African Union mediation, peacekeeping and peace-building work over the coming years.

East Africa was named a priority region by this Government in their “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy”. Now we need to understand how that commitment will be implemented to support peace, security, inclusion and accountability. The first priority, as we know, must be to support humanitarian access for the people of Tigray. In August, 89% of the population in Tigray were assessed as food insecure, and 29% of children under five and half the pregnant women and breastfeeding women were malnourished. That situation will inevitably have worsened since then.

Over the past two years, many people have been descending into deeper desperation in the absence of aid. That in itself is sure to have fuelled the conflict, because if the only way people can eat and survive is by signing up to fight, why would they not do that? That desperation puts women and children at massively increased risk of abuse and exploitation, so what progress has been made with humanitarian access right now to all parts of Tigray? Let us face it: demand for assistance is extremely high in many parts of Ethiopia and across the region because of the terrible drought. Are we confident that aid agencies have enough resources to take full advantage to deliver life-saving help quickly?

The Minister has rightly said in response to my written questions that the UK stands ready to support the peace process—that is fabulous—so now I would be grateful to understand how. Will he tell us if discussions are ongoing with the Government of Ethiopia and the African Union? Like my hon. Friends, I have several constituents who have been agonisingly out of contact with their families in Tigray for many months now. Surely we can expect a rapid and final end to the communications blackout and the restoration of services.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Like my hon. Friend, I have constituents from Tigray, Oromia and Ethiopia as a whole, and they are going through the most awful stress. There is a lack of communication, but they want to send help and aid in support. Does she think we could do more to facilitate information, to give the families some sense of security about what is happening to their relatives? The community in this country is also very keen to send whatever help it can.

[Ms Brown]

My right hon. Friend has known me long enough to know that I agree entirely with what he just said. As my hon. Friends the Members for Canterbury, for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), and for Edmonton (Kate Osamor), have highlighted, there have been many credible reports of repeated war crimes and potential crimes against humanity.

It is unacceptable that the UN-mandated International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia has been so heavily restricted in its work. Despite those restrictions, the commission has set out damning evidence of horrifying abuses by all parties to the conflict. Because of the lack of access for journalists and human rights defenders, the violations we know about may well be only the tip of the iceberg.

It would be good to know how we are preparing for the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative conference in two weeks’ time. There have been many reports of women, children and men being subject to horrific sexual violence, including repeated rape and torture. Many seem to have been targeted, based on their identity, with sexual violence being used as a weapon of war. I hope that the Minister will tell us how the UK is working to support survivors through access to specialist services, including mental and physical health support, and access to justice.

For many of the survivors who have been displaced it is not currently safe to return home. Many are in camps in Sudan as well as across Ethiopia. I am sure we all understand that specialist support needs to get to where they are now, and quickly. I genuinely struggle to see how the enormous divisions in Ethiopia will mend without proper accountability. That is about security as well as justice for the victims.

I am struggling to understand how we can have confidence in a sustainable peace, if there is not healing and inclusion in Ethiopia. I hope that the Minister will tell us more about the approach that he will take to support credible accountability for the countless victims of abuses in this war. I want to ask the Minister about some of the pitfalls, as it would be devastating to the people of Ethiopia and damaging to UK interests if the agreement fails.

First, the agreement excludes Eritrea, and it is not clear how the rapid withdrawal of all Eritrean forces will be ensured. The Government have failed to mirror previous US sanctions against Eritrean entities involved in the conflict, so I hope that the Minister will consider that as a lever that he might have to deploy.

We know that there are significant border disputes, particularly around western Tigray. Many of the alleged systematic abuses, including ethnic cleansing, relate to that area. A pathway will need to resolve those disputes fairly and peacefully. The ceasefire does not end the need for close and consistent engagement by the UK—far from it. Let us be clear: the UK has much to gain from a just peace.

Ethiopia has made an enormous contribution to sustainable development and to the pan-African vision and its institution. The potential of the people of Ethiopia is even greater than their history. I believe that our partnership and collaboration could be much stronger if the UK supports the peace to hold, and if justice is done and seen to be done for the peoples of that very great country.

[Sir Gary Streeter (in the Chair)]

Just before I call the Minister, can I check, Rosie, whether you want to take advantage of time to wind up the debate ?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Mitchell]

If I may, I will come back to the hon. Gentleman’s comments later.

The presence and conduct of Eritrean forces in Tigray has fuelled the conflict and made its resolution more challenging. The Eritrean Government were not party to the peace agreement, but will inevitably be crucial to its success. We have consistently called on Eritrea to withdraw its troops from Tigray—I repeat that call today, and urge the Eritrean Government to support the peace agreement. We recognise that a durable peace in the horn of Africa depends on mutually acceptable security arrangements, which must include Eritrea, and we encourage those in the region to find solutions through dialogue.

I want to make a couple of points about our development assistance. Before the conflict, our development partnership with Ethiopia—one of the best in the world—had lifted millions of people out of poverty. Indeed, the results of spending British taxpayers’ money in Ethiopia were truly stunning, and helped Ethiopia to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. We want Ethiopia to return to more prosperous times, and the peace agreement calls on international partners to support its implementation, to help build infrastructure and to support economic recovery, although the UK will play its part in that. The UK Government have already provided 54 trucks to the UN World Food Programme in the region, and we are working with partners to remove the logistical barriers that prevent them from operating at full capacity. If the peace deal holds, we will encourage international financial institutions to support Ethiopia’s recovery.

[Ms Lyn Brown]

To my obviously amateur ear, that did not sound like an awful lot of aid for the number of people in need of support. Does the Minister think it is enough?

[Mr Mitchell]

If the hon. Lady, who knows a great deal about these matters, will bear with me for a moment, I will come specifically to the issue of money.

This may be a moment for optimism. There is an opportunity to end one of the world’s most destructive conflicts, but that opportunity must be comprehensive and nurtured by everyone. The prize is a return to peace and prosperity for a nation of over 100 million people, and the UK stands ready to do all that we can to assist with that.

I will comment briefly on a number of points that were raised during the debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson) for what he said. He is one of the experts, having had a relationship with Ethiopia and its people for many years. The House benefits greatly from his expertise. The former leader of the Labour party, the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), raised a number of important issues. He asked about the delivery of aid to the conflict areas. Yesterday, for the first time, two trucks from the International Committee of the Red Cross got through to Mekelle. Nothing has got through for so long, so I hope that that may be a significant breakthrough on which we can build.

The hon. Gentleman the Member for Edmonton—

Oral Answers to Questions

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

I also welcome the Minister to his post. Across east Africa, somebody is dying of hunger every 36 seconds. One hundred people will die in the time that Ministers are at the Dispatch Box. At COP, countries such as ours are urged to cover the cost of adapting to global heating in extremely vulnerable nations, but, despite soundbites from No. 10 about helping countries with the existential threats that they face, our Government are cutting support for countries such as Somalia. Will he demonstrate that he understands the real human cost of climate change by promising immediate assistance for food and climate support in Somalia?

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank the hon. Lady for her kind remarks. The international community is scaling up in Somalia and in Ethiopia. The World Bank and the African Development Bank have announced more than $35 billion of funding for food security across the region.

Nigeria: Security Situation

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Westminster Hall

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Nokes. I thank the hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Offord) for securing this debate, as well as all those who have spoken today.

The potential of the people of Nigeria to shape our world for the better is enormous, but that potential is being shattered by terrible violence with increasing frequency and scale. The fear and chaos even risks the political stability of Nigeria, one of our most important partner countries. Many of us represent wonderful Nigerian diaspora communities, so we have a vivid sense of those links and the benefits that are on offer, but at the same time, we hear increasing concern from constituents worried about the safety of their families and terrified for the beautiful country that they love. We have heard about some of the atrocities that have been perpetrated on the people of Nigeria; perhaps the worst attack of all was in Owo on 5 June, which has taken the lives of 41 churchgoers to date, with 17 still in hospital. I reiterate the Labour party’s solidarity with the victims, their families and their communities. As colleagues have mentioned, there have been other targeted attacks on religious sites and leaders.

We need to see all of this in the context of wider conflicts and violations of religious freedoms for Christian denominations and others. In January, 571 instances of kidnapping and 314 killings of people were reported in Nigeria; the majority took place in the north-west, particularly in Niger and Zamfara states. Much of the insecurity is affecting mainly Muslim communities in the north of Nigeria, and we need to be clear that insecurity is affecting people across religious, ethnic and geographic lines in Nigeria. We need to support healing and peacebuilding, which means not fuelling narratives that are being used to stoke further hatred and violence. I hope that with the Minister, we can send a unanimous message of solidarity with all the Nigerian communities struggling in the face of that insecurity.

Nigeria is a named priority in both the Government’s integrated review and the international development strategy. I hope that we will hear more from the Minister about what fresh work is being done to put that priority into action. What strategic assessment have we made of whether the forms of support within the security partnerships are the right ones? Are they at the right scale to make a real difference?

I note that the security partnership is expanding to include programming on civilian policing and civilian-military co-operation, which are desperately needed. However, when it comes to UK aid, the cuts were brutal. Funding for bilateral Nigeria programmes was cut by more than half last year. So there have been specific requests for more assistance with tackling the drivers of insecurity. However, does the Department have the resources to meet those requests? How will we manage the sensitivities of the pre-election period while hopefully ramping up our support for security in Nigeria? How are we working with other countries, particularly with Niger and Chad, on some of the big cross-border drivers?

I know that the Minister will rightly talk about the work being done as part of the Lake Chad stabilisation strategy, but frankly the geographic scale of this issue has expanded. It is alarming to read the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership’s communiqué from February and to see north-eastern Nigeria being highlighted constantly. I am sure that the Minister will recognise that the security challenges of recent months have primarily been in the north-west of Nigeria and the country’s middle belt, and I hope that she will be able to say a little more about what co-ordinated cross-border work is planned to address the drivers of insecurity.

Those drivers are not new; they will not go away overnight; and we have to face the fact that climate heating is creating intense conflicts for dwindling resources such as water and fertile land. That situation interacts with religious and ethnic differences that mirror the divide between farming communities and herders who are often nomadic. At the most basic level, people struggling to survive are more vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups—not just terrorists, but bandits, too. The UK has a role to play in supporting the Nigerian Government to provide an effective response and I believe that we need steady peace-building, enabling the state to build public service provision in marginalised areas and, above all, to enforce the law and protect people.

We really have to be conscious of what happened in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso, and the risk to democracy when security deteriorates. There is promising leadership against insecurity, especially in Niger, and I would like to hear how we are getting behind those efforts to expand and adapt the more effective approaches.

We know that independent, proudly African, human rights-respecting, democratic states can provide real security for their people, but we need to support states in demonstrating that against the challenges they face. Surely, that is the task, and if there is not success in that task, we are likely to see more military coups in the region, more terrorism, more frightful atrocities, more humanitarian disasters and more exploitative interference by Russia. If that happens, the enormous promise of Nigeria risks being lost and UK interests will be woefully damaged in the process. Let us work together to stop it happening.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We now come to shadow Minister Lyn Brown.

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

This policy will do nothing to stop the boats. The Minister has spent the last few days talking up the human rights record of the Rwandan Government, yet the previous Minister expressed concerns around “civil and political rights” in Rwanda. In 2018, 12 refugees were shot dead during protests about cuts to food allowances, and last month, the current Minister said that the UK was raising the latest of many cases of Government critics ending up dead. Is that hypocrisy the reason why the Daily Mirror, The Guardian and the Financial Times were blocked from joining the Home Secretary’s trip to Rwanda—because they would call it out?

[Vicky Ford]

I have been very consistent. We do have concerns about restrictions on political freedom, civil society and media freedom, and regularly express them to the Government of Rwanda. However, they also have a strong record on protecting refugees. I know the hon. Lady cares about Afghans, especially women, and she will know that Afghanistan’s only girls’ school recently relocated all its staff, its students and their families to Rwanda. The headteacher herself has described their reception in Rwanda as one of

“kindness, and sensitivity, and humanity”.

Those are her words, not mine.

World Tuberculosis Day

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2022 Westminster Hall

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Murray. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) for securing the debate and for his excellent speech. May I say what a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), whom I see in many of the debates I attend? It is a real joy to be here with both those Members, who are really nice, gentle men.

World TB Day is a reminder that this terrible sickness is thriving because of the poverty and inequality that persists in the UK and across our world. TB is deadly: in 2020, it killed 1.5 million people. However, TB is both preventable and curable. The UK, with international partners, has rightly committed to the achievable goal of finally ending the epidemic by 2030. I hope the Government will join the Labour party not only in recommitting to that goal, but in committing the resources necessary to achieve it.

Unfortunately, the goals in the World Health Organisation’s “End TB Strategy” are not even close to being met. We targeted a 20% reduction in incidence, but we have achieved just 11%. We targeted a 35% reduction in deaths, but they fell by only 9%. We aimed to reduce to zero, by 2020, the number of people who face catastrophic costs as a result of TB. Instead, almost half of all people who are infected with TB still deal with catastrophic costs. TB is a disease of poverty, and it keeps people in poverty worldwide.

The efforts of NGOs and many Governments have been powerful and have made a massive difference. The WHO estimates that 66 million lives were saved by TB treatment between 2000 and 2020—but it ain’t enough. The job is not nearly done, and recently, following covid, we have slipped backwards. Does the Minister believe that the sustainable development goal to end the TB epidemic by 2030 has a chance of being met without more resources? As my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall stated, it will not take eight years to end the TB epidemic; it will take more than 100.

Surely, part of the reason for the limited progress is that we are less than halfway towards the 2022 targets for funding both TB research and universal access to TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The largest supporter of action against TB globally is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which funds 77% of all anti-TB projects. The Global Fund was co-founded by the Labour Government in 2002. After 18 years of work, the Global Fund estimates that its programme has saved 44 million lives. What an extraordinary achievement of the UK leadership that has been. The Global Fund is not just about direct delivery of projects to prevent, diagnose and treat the most deadly diseases. It also helps to build up sustainable healthcare systems and tackle the broader issues of poverty and social exclusion that make TB such a deadly threat that continues today.

Last week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that UK aid spending has clear economic benefits for the UK. That is particularly true of health spending, which can massively increase productivity by tackling long-term conditions. As well as benefiting millions of people and building a fairer and safer world, part of UK ODA spend goes back into the UK economy by boosting exports to developing countries. In total, the cut from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP will actually cost the UK between £300 million and £400 million in lost exports. If the Government do not stick to their word and return to their manifesto promise, that number will simply grow.

This year the Global Fund needs to have its financing replenished by international partners. As the Minister knows, the UK has previously always been one of the top funders. We give money not just because of the impact on our international reputation and the relationships that we build around the world, and not just because preventing so much human suffering and death is simply the right thing to do. We do it because we in the UK are affected by TB too.

In the UK, just like the rest of the world, people are more vulnerable to TB if they are malnourished, have chronic illnesses like diabetes or are living with HIV. Over 70% of UK cases of TB are in people born outside the UK, but they are overwhelmingly concentrated in deprived communities, with overcrowded and poor-quality housing. That includes my constituency. The cost of living crisis and housing crises will put more people in these vulnerable positions. Unless we tackle poverty and disease throughout the world, our own communities will be affected, too. What do the Government plan to do about that?

Recent England-wide strategies have had some success since 2015 in tackling TB in England, but we know that success had stalled—even reversing slightly—just before the pandemic. We have to recognise that with TB, just as with Covid, none of us is truly safe until all of us are safe. We need international as well as domestic action. That action must go beyond diagnosis and treatment. We must put resources into research, too. There is still just one approved vaccine for TB, even though it remains deadly and destructive; and that vaccine is more than 100 years old, and highly effective only for young children. A new vaccine could save not only millions of lives, but vast amounts of money. Therefore I am hoping that the Minister can reveal how the UK will contribute to vaccine development and other TB research efforts over the coming year.

As we have heard, this autumn there will be a replenishment of the Global Fund. Will the UK continue as the third-largest funder? I hope that the Minister can give clear assurances on that today, because the rumours are that the existing priorities of global health, combating global heating, and conflict prevention could be dropped. Those are all areas where the UK does excellent work, with support across the House, but we hear that all will be slashed to the bone. Reportedly, the decision to make those brutal cuts will be made by the Foreign Secretary alone, ignoring warnings and advice from both inside and outside the Department. I desperately hope that those rumours are not true, that the Minister will reassure us today, and that those assurances will be borne out by the international development strategy.

I know that the Government will say that they are focusing on women and girls, and that that justifies any cuts. Labour proposes a feminist approach to international development; we see efforts towards gender equality worldwide as a massive priority. Half a million women die of TB every year. Waits for diagnosis and treatment are generally longer for women than men, and TB is a massive risk during pregnancy. The Minister must recognise that global health funding protects women and girls and advances gender equality. So does action against the climate emergency, as the Minister knows, because she was at a meeting in New York about that issue just last week. Will a comprehensive equalities impact assessment be published, so that all hon. Members can see some analysis—as well as the Government’s own PR—about these cuts?

I want to say a little about another area of global health where the UK was a leader—the neglected tropical diseases that affect 1.7 billion people globally and, as with TB, primarily the poorest and most disadvantaged. Until last year, the Department for International Development funded a programme called Ascend—Accelerating the Sustainable Control and Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases—providing lifesaving treatments and strengthening health systems. As we know, that is vital for eliminating diseases, including TB, in the long term. Ascend delivered more than 350 million preventive treatments, fighting diseases that cause everything from blindness to organ damage to death. But last April, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funding to Ascend was cut, leaving a funding hole of about £100 million. Because of that cut, 100,000 people across east Africa and south Asia did not receive planned care for the horrific symptoms, and the social and economic consequences, of elephantiasis.

How many more proven programmes will be cut if global health is no longer a priority? How much more will our reputation for leadership in this field be damaged? What will happen to the Department’s health-system-strengthening approach, launched with such fanfare just three months ago? Most importantly of all, Minister, how many more lives will be blighted by preventable diseases if the rumoured cuts go ahead? How many more years will the progress that we have made on eradicating TB be set back?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Vicky Ford)]

It is an absolute pleasure, Mrs Murray, to serve under your chairmanship.

I start by thanking the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) for securing this debate on this incredibly important topic. I pay tribute to him for his long-standing advocacy for action on TB, including as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on global TB. I also thank the other hon. Members for their contributions today. I will try to respond to many of the points that have been raised.

Every year on World TB Day, it is important to reflect on the impact that tuberculosis has on people across the world. We are reminded of the devastating cost of this deadly disease. We are continuing our efforts to combat it, by investing in services worldwide to prevent, test for and treat TB, funding cutting-edge research to fight TB locally, and working to strengthen healthcare across the world and at home. I will set out further details on this work during my speech.

First, however, it is important to understand the scale of the challenge that we face. Despite the fact that TB is preventable and treatable, it continues to have a devastating impact. It is truly shocking that every day more than 4,100 people die from it: mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters. Thousands of families are torn apart daily. TB kills more people each year than malaria and AIDS put together. In Africa, it is the leading killer of people with HIV. And as the Opposition spokeswoman, the hon. Member for West Ham (Ms Brown), pointed out, TB is particularly harmful to women, especially pregnant women, causing complications and increasing both maternal and infant mortality rates.

As hon. Members have pointed out, TB preys on some of the world’s most vulnerable people. The hon. Member for Ealing, Southall mentioned Ukraine. In Ukraine, TB has the potential to add to the horrific impact of Putin’s illegal invasion. Ukraine already had the fourth-highest incidence of TB in Europe and Putin’s war is disrupting medical care, which heightens the risk of the disease spreading. The UK and the rest of the international community will continue to support the Ukrainian Government and people, including with medical supplies. We also welcome the Global Fund’s announcement of an additional $15 million of emergency funding to Ukraine, which will support the continuation of HIV and TB prevention, testing and treatment services. However, I also want to be really clear that the best way to prevent deaths from TB and other diseases in Ukraine is for Russia to stop this illegal war.

As the hon. Gentleman also mentioned, the covid pandemic has continued to take a toll on people’s lives and it has had a knock-on effect on the work to combat TB. In 2020, deaths from tuberculosis increased for the first time in a decade. However, we have also seen an 18% decrease in the number of people being diagnosed with TB, because the pandemic disrupted TB services and people’s ability to seek care.

It is vital that we continue our efforts and work with partners to boost access to essential services, in order to prevent and treat this disease, and that we continue improving global surveillance systems, so that we can detect and respond to outbreaks quickly.

As all the hon. Members who spoke today have mentioned, the World Health Organisation’s TB strategy has set out the global scale of the ambition to end the TB epidemic by 2035. We continue to strive towards that target and have strongly supported work to deliver it. In fact, the UK helped to establish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria more than 20 years ago. We have remained a strong supporter ever since, contributing more than £4.1 billion to it. The Global Fund has made a huge difference over the past two decades, saving an incredible 44 million lives. It will continue to play an important role and I welcome the focus in its latest investment case on supporting health systems and global health security.

Many Members mentioned reductions to official development assistance. We all know that the economic situation is deeply challenging and that was a very difficult decision to make, but it was also a temporary decision. We are committed to returning to 0.7% as soon as the situation allows, and I remind Members of the positive statements that the Chancellor made about that in his autumn Budget. We remain committed to improving global health, and are looking at our work in a number of areas to ensure the best configuration to deliver our priorities.

International development remains a core priority. It is integrated across the FCDO, including across the country network, and developmental priorities will continue to be embedded in multiple areas. We are reviewing the Global Fund’s recently released investment case and considering what commitment we can make for the seventh replenishment, but I cannot provide details on that now.

[Ms Brown]

I have listened very carefully and I am not as dismayed as I thought I might be. Will the Minister let me know when she might be in a position to give us details on that spend? As she will appreciate, there is real anxiety out there.

[Vicky Ford]

I thank the hon. Lady for her excellent question. I understand the urgency of getting the details agreed, but, as she knows, there has been a restructuring in the FCDO because of the changing situation that we now face, given the geopolitical impact of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. It is important that we continually assess how best to use our structures to reflect different global challenges to enable us to deliver for the UK. As I said, we maintain a strong commitment to improving global health, and I understand the importance of getting the numbers agreed. We cannot do everything, but we will get the numbers as soon as possible.

Research was mentioned in the opening speech. The UK is a global leader in the funding of TB research. We continue to support academics and industry to develop the evidence, and new technologies and approaches to diagnose and treat TB. We have been a critical investor in product development partnerships to combat infectious diseases, including TB, for many years. The FCDO has supported the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics to develop a new PCR-based technology to test for TB, which is now available in more than 140 countries worldwide, including in the NHS.

Our investment also helped the TB Alliance to develop new combinations of drugs that significantly reduce the severity of side effects and the length of treatment from over 18 months to six months for drug-resistant TB, and even shorter for drug-sensitive TB. UK funding is bringing partners together to solve critical problems. For example, through support to British Investment International, MedAccess, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Unitaid have secured a lower price for an innovative short-course TB preventive therapy.

As a further demonstration of our commitment to invest in the fight against TB, I am pleased to announce £6 million of funding for TB REACH, which will support piloting innovative ways to hunt down and treat millions of missing TB cases. I am pleased that the US and Canada are also backing that fantastic work; only through joined-up efforts with our partners will we meet our target to eliminate TB. The UK Government are one of the largest bilateral funders of TB research and development globally, and we continue to invest in research and development, including developing new tools and approaches to tackle TB.

The hon. Members for Ealing, Southall and for West Ham spoke about the situation in the UK. With an eye on the global picture, it is important not to lose sight of the challenge that TB presents here in the UK. As in other countries, we see that the disease often affects the most marginalised and vulnerable people. We are investing in early detection and treatment, including genome sequencing, which can help to detect drug resistance and clusters of transmission.

As the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall said, the UK has a TB action plan for England, which will run for five years from 2021 to 2026. It was jointly launched by the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England, and it sets out the work that will support year-on-year reductions in TB incidence in order to move England towards its elimination target. It includes specific actions relating to underserved populations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

This negotiation is urgent, and progress has not been fast enough. We continue to work in close partnership with our allies, but the negotiations are reaching a dangerous impasse. Iran must now choose whether it wants to conclude a deal or be responsible for the collapse of the JCPOA. If the JCPOA collapses, all options are on the table.

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

Some 9.4 million people are going hungry in northern Ethiopia, airstrikes are killing civilians and the blockade is being used as a political weapon. I am glad that the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford), met Abiy Ahmed last week. Did she make it clear that preventing humanitarian access is an abuse of human rights, that airstrikes on refugees are completely incompatible with UK partnership, and that a real dialogue to enable peace must start now and include the Prime Minister’s opponents?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right: we need to secure peace in Ethiopia. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs was in Ethiopia and she has been extremely active on the issue. I have also discussed it with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister and urged them to join peace talks.

Nigeria: Sanctions Regime

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Westminster Hall

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, and it is really good to see you looking so well.

I, too, thank the right hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) for introducing this debate and for her passion about the subject. I also thank all my hon. Friends for their passion and expertise, and for the clear demands that we are all making today in this Chamber. It is good to hear that the demands are being made unanimously and across what is sometimes a divide.

As we know, the SARS police unit was suspected of abuses against thousands of innocent Nigerians over the past 28 years. Sadly, it is clear that Nigeria has a serious problem with abuses of state power and corruption that goes way beyond SARS. The protest movement that we are seeing rise in Nigeria wants all these abuses to be addressed.

SARS and other police forces in Nigeria were well known for targeting young people for arrests, extortion and beatings, almost at random. I am told that if someone is young and has the wrong hairstyle or clothes, or if they are driving a car and playing music, they could be targeted. Their money or possessions could be seized without any evidence, and people know that if they resist they will be beaten and possibly killed.

SARS created an environment of fear and injustice, and until the protests there was no real sign that those in power were listening or prepared to act. Sadly, it appears to be just the same with many other issues in Nigerian society. There is terrible unemployment, little access to healthcare or education and a poverty rate as high as 70%, according to Oxfam. The people of Nigeria have the right to come together and call for an end to those injustices. As we know, however, in recent months their powerful but peaceful actions have been met with horrific violence. Amnesty says that at least 56 people were killed during the recent protests, including at least 10 in Lekki.

I have been fortunate enough to hear from a young journalist with direct knowledge of what happened at the Lekki tollgate. I will read out her words: “It was devastating—something you don’t want to imagine. The protesters did not know that the cameras and the lights were going to be removed. There were no cameras to witness anything.” Then, as we have heard today: “The soldiers opened fire on the crowd of protesters, and my contact said, ‘One of the survivors jumped in the water, but the soldiers kept on shooting’. For days after, a friend of mine didn’t come online because of the shock and the fear, and it took him a long time to come to Facebook and say, ‘Thank God I survived. I did not think I was going to.’” She said: “Someone else I know left the tollgate with a bullet in him, and later they moved all the bodies so that there would be no evidence. For them to close their hearts and kill protestors like that is simply unforgiveable.”

The response from the authorities, who feel threatened by the protests, has been insidious, as we have heard. Media agencies have been fined for telling the truth. Bank accounts of activists have been suspended because they supposedly finance terrorism, and Government spokespeople have even blamed the protesters for a rise in food prices. Those in power will clearly do anything to ensure that the movement ends now and that SARS is technically disbanded. They are terrified that the calls for action on corruption and police brutality will go on and on.

My plea to the Minister is that we stand with the young people of Nigeria who are demanding change far beyond the closure of SARS. They are demanding a future worthy of their courage and leadership, and here in the UK we need that too, because Nigeria is a massive, fast-growing, youthful country, which has massive potential. It is a country that will play a leading role in decades to come, not just within Africa but in our world. For that positive leadership to happen, the sense of justice that motivates the #EndSARS protests must prevail, to shape Nigeria’s future and our future too.

I do not think that words from the Government today will be enough. We have to demonstrate our solidarity by identifying and targeting those who we know are responsible for the terrible violence and abuses that the activists have faced. The least we should do is ensure that those who have murdered Nigerians and deprived them of their human rights cannot benefit from trade or travel to the UK. In my view, that should include the leaders of the Government and the military, who are even now refusing to allow transparent and fair investigations to happen, and justice to be implemented.

I want to hear from the Minister that a list of Magnitsky —I never say that word properly—sanctions is being created, and action against those on that list will be taken in weeks, not years. Our role must be to work with everyone we can to identify those responsible and ensure that justice is done. I would be so very grateful if, on this occasion, the Government act decisively.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Wendy Morton)]

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate under your excellent guidance and chairmanship, Mr Gray, so thank you. Let me begin by saying that I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) for securing the debate and to all the hon. Members who contributed today. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat), from the hon. Members for Edmonton (Kate Osamor), for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) and for West Ham (Ms Brown), and from others. I will endeavour to answer as many of their questions as I possibly can—I cannot say “within the time allowed”, because we are doing quite well on time at the moment, Mr Gray, but I know you will keep me in good order and not let me get carried away.

This is an important debate. The Minister for Africa, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), has asked me to offer his apologies to Members present, as he is away on ministerial business and is therefore not able to attend. However, he has a very close interest in this topic, and I feel sure that he will be paying great attention to this debate, as we would expect of the Minister for Africa. I will therefore respond in his place on behalf of the Government.

We are grateful to the nearly 220,000 members of the public who signed the petition and enabled this debate to take place. Quite rightly, there is significant public concern about the recent protests in Nigeria, especially the issue of police brutality. I also acknowledge the strong feeling about this issue in this place, and am thankful for the contributions made by all colleagues today. As I said, I will try to respond to all of the points that have been raised, but I will first set out the Government’s position on the protests and on police reform, and will then address the topic of sanctions.

I assure the House that the Government have been following developments in Nigeria very closely since the protests. We are deeply concerned about violence during the protests, which tragically claimed lives, and I am sure right hon. and hon. Members present will join me in passing on our condolences to the families of those affected. The UK supports the right to peaceful protest. We condemn violence by any party, and in doing so make an important distinction between the rioting and looting that took place and the original, peaceful protest movement.

We have raised the protests and the response to them at the highest levels in the Nigerian Government. The Foreign Secretary issued a statement on 21 October calling for an end to the violence. He called for the Nigerian Government urgently to investigate reports of brutality by its security forces, and to hold those responsible to account. The Minister for Africa spoke to Foreign Minister Onyeama on 23 October to reiterate his tweets that recognised the Nigerian people’s democratic and peaceful calls for reform, and encouraged the Nigerian authorities to restore peace and address concerns regarding brutality towards civilians. The British high commissioner in Abuja continues to raise the protests with senior representatives of the Nigerian Government, including our concerns about intimidation of civil society groups and peaceful activists.

We welcome President Buhari’s decision to disband the federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, the police unit at the centre of recent protests, and it is important that historical reports of police brutality and violence during recent protests are investigated fully. We also welcome the emerging dialogue between state governors and young people: in a country where more than 50% of the population is under 25, that conversation is important in understanding the concerns of the next generation. We also welcome the President’s request for his Cabinet Ministers to do the same in their home areas. Lastly, we welcome the establishment of judicial panels of inquiry to investigate all the alleged incidents.

I can inform Members that the Minister for Africa spoke to the Governor of Lagos on 11 November, and also spoke to the President’s chief of staff, Ibrahim Gambari, on 21 November. He stressed the importance of police and military co-operation with the panels, and expressed the urgent need for panels to progress investigations, including into the incident at Lekki. As Members can see from the Government’s written response to this petition, we continue to monitor these investigations and their outcomes very closely. We also continue to monitor progress on police reform, and support Nigerian-led reform. Earlier this year, for example, we supported civil society efforts to secure the successful passage of the new Police Act. Implemented effectively, that Act will be an important step towards a more transparent and accountable police force.

I would like to set out the Government’s position on sanctions. On 6 July, the Government established the global human rights sanctions regime. In a statement to Parliament, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary set out its full scope. It gives the UK a powerful new tool with which to hold to account the perpetrators of serious human rights violations or abuses. It is a long-standing practice not to speculate on future sanctions designations, as doing so could reduce their impact. The sanctions regime complements our ongoing human rights activities around the world and demonstrates this country’s commitment to being a force for good, and we will continue to keep all evidence and potential listings under very close review.

[Ms Lyn Brown]

I am grateful to the Minister for being here this afternoon, given that the Minister for Africa, the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), was not able to be with us because of foreign travel. All of us have asked for sanctions. It would be courteous if the Minister for Africa wrote to us to outline the Government’s position on this issue, and to explain why we are not being assured this afternoon that sanctions will be imposed.

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. Although that is a perfectly reasonable question, and no doubt the Minister will read Hansard, it is not actually in order to call for that letter in this debate. It is a perfectly sensible thing to ask for, and no doubt it may well occur, but the Minister is not required to answer that specific point.

Xinjiang: Uyghurs

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

British diplomats visit the region periodically. Although access is not particularly easy, we do require to observe the situation first hand. British diplomats visited most recently in November 2019. Their observations supported much of the most recent open source reporting about the restrictions that have been targeted at specific ethnic groups. My hon. Friend mentioned Tibet, which our diplomats visited from 15 to 19 July 2019. We continue to press for further access for our diplomats as well as urging the Chinese authorities to lift the visit restrictions that are imposed on all foreigners.

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab) [V]]

The Uyghurs have been systematically persecuted for decades. Concentration camps have been built for millions and we now have clear evidence that the Uyghur population is being reduced through the forced sterilisation of women: so many early warning signs of genocide. I do not want to use any company that enables that and I would support any public body that felt exactly the same, but the Government intend to ban public bodies from expressing their condemnation through boycotts. Will they now reconsider?

[Nigel Adams]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to be angry about those violations in the region. We referenced trade earlier, and of course we want to secure growth and investment for the UK, but upholding human rights and British values is not a zero-sum choice. Our experience is that political freedom and the rule of law are vital underpinnings for long-running prosperity and stability, and that by having a strong relationship with China, we can have open and sometimes difficult discussions on a range of issues, including human rights. We have had very open and difficult discussions directly with our counterparts in China.

Persecution of Christians

Lyn Brown Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

It is a number I recognise, and if my hon. Friend is able to stay for the rest of the debate, he will hear me talking about that figure in a little while.

In the meantime, we use what data is available from the excellent non-governmental organisations in the field, and—here we are—one of them, the highly regarded Open Doors, estimates on the 2020 world watch list that a staggering 260 million Christians are at risk of high to extreme levels of persecution. Open Doors says that the persecution takes many forms, including the growing use of surveillance technology by Governments to identify and discriminate against Christians.

What have we done so far to help? We have made good progress in implementing the recommendations of the review, both through in-house changes in the Foreign Office and through policy change. For example, we have recognised that our diplomats and officials must fully appreciate the role that religion plays in people’s lives in political and social contexts, and that is why we are working to expand and enhance our religious literacy training. We have also appointed a senior champion for freedom of religion or belief, and we now mark “red Wednesday” in support of persecuted minority groups.

Policy-wise we are also making important changes. Colleagues will be aware of our plan to establish an independent human rights sanctions regime; this will allow us to take quick and effective action against those who commit serious abuses or violations, including against religious minorities, and will, we believe, act as a deterrent to others.

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

We have substantiated claims about the persecution of the Uyghur Muslims in China. Can the Minister tell me whether there are going to be any real actions against the Chinese state because of it?

[Mrs Wheeler]

The hon. Lady is a doughty fighter on the matter of the Uyghur; she has corresponded with me on this matter a number of times. Now that we have left the EU, we are setting up our own sanctions Magnitsky scheme, and where there is clear evidence of named people, we can take that forward.

We have also announced that it is our intention to use our position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to highlight the issues faced by Christians and people of other faiths and beliefs in the middle east.

Of course, implementing the review’s recommendations is only part of our broader work to promote freedom of religion or belief around the globe. For example, we use our influence to speak up for persecuted Christians and individuals of other faiths in multilateral institutions such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the UN. Last year, we joined 87 other states to co-sponsor a UN resolution establishing the international day commemorating the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief. We stand with the international community not only to honour those who have paid the ultimate price to practise their faith, but also to combat ongoing intolerance and discrimination, and that is why we call out specific countries that violate the right to freedom of religion or belief, including China, Iran and Russia.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

I am absolutely delighted to have this opportunity to raise the plight of persecuted Christians. The last time I raised this issue in the House, in a debate just like this one, I focused on Nigeria and the horrifying persecution by the terrorist group Boko Haram. This time, I wish to highlight persecution by the Chinese state, which observers from the Open Doors world watch list believe is increasing.

In China, unlike many other countries where Christians face persecution, the origin of the persecution they face is not hatred from members of another religion; instead, it appears to be the Communist party’s apparently endless desire to exert its authority over every institution, however small and potentially unthreatening, that could provide an alternative source of community or—they might possibly think—power. This desire for control leads to attempts to Sinicise every single church and every other religious and cultural institution in that place, forcing them under state control and into conformity with official interpretations of Chinese culture.

For those who do not fall into line, there have been crackdowns, detentions, interrogations, torture and disappearances. Local authorities are reportedly shutting down unregistered churches and arresting their members. Some regions have been told to replace pictures of Jesus with that of the Chinese leader. Members may have heard of the Early Rain Covenant church in Chengdu, more than 200 members of which were arrested in 2018. Its pastor, Wang Yi, was sentenced to nine years in jail. The Zion church, one of Beijing’s largest unofficial Protestant churches, was shut down in 2018.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton) mentioned in his opening remarks from the Front Bench, children under the age of 18 are systematically banned from attending church. In effect that strips parents of the right to pass on their faith to their children. Technological monitoring has strangled religious freedoms in China. As we have heard, surveillance cameras have been forcibly installed in churches as a so-called security measure.

Someone who has experienced all that at first hand is Pastor Jin. He realised that his country had changed in 2017. He says:

“There was something about the tone and urgency of the language that suggested a new campaign was coming”.

Pastor Jin was arrested because of his church work and detained for more than 10 days in solitary confinement. He says:

“As the days dragged on, doubt crept in. I began to go over and over the same questions: if I am called by God, am I really willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Gospel?”

I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for someone to choose between their faith or their freedom and safety, and the safety of their family, too.

Some of the worst affected are those who dare to stand up for Christians and their right to practise. They are the lawyers, the human rights defenders and the people who speak out against the state as Christians are forced underground. They have been subject to the most awful intimidation and violence. Gao Zhisheng was one of them. Amnesty has called him the bravest lawyer in China. He grew up in poverty. When he became a lawyer, he pledged to serve the underprivileged. It was when Gao defended underground Christians as well as the Falun Gong that he got into trouble. For his efforts, he was repeatedly abducted. He spent three years in a prison in Xinjiang from 2011 to 2014. He was physically and mentally tortured, beaten, deprived of sleep, placed in solitary confinement for long periods of time and electrocuted with cattle prods. He continued to speak out against the injustices that he saw. He wrote:

“My experience is just one part of the boundless suffering of the Chinese race under the cruellest regime in history.”

In 2017, Gao was disappeared. His family have not heard from him since.

Another man, Li, is known for defending sensitive cases, such as those in unregistered religious groups who have faced persecution. Li was attacked multiple times because of that and, in one incident in 2007, he was abducted, held in a basement of a building and stripped to his underwear. Those who abducted him were heard shouting that if they saw him in Beijing again, they would beat him. Then he was attacked with bottles and electric shock batons. By the end, he had bruises all over his body, and he had lost his hearing in his left ear. Returning home, he found his house ransacked and his computer wiped. In 2015, he was arrested and spent two years in prison and was tortured daily. His family were not told where he was for six whole months. He left prison frail and unrecognisable after pleading guilty to charges of subverting the system. Li returned home to close surveillance and restricted freedom of movement. Li’s brother, Chunfu, was also detained for 18 months. Chunfu was hospitalised and diagnosed with schizophrenia. His wife, understandably distraught, was heard telling the police officer:

“His mind is shattered. Just what did you people do to him?”

These are just some of the horrific stories that have emerged—stories of people who were trying to defend the religious minorities in China.

As we know, and as we heard earlier, it is not only Christians who are being abused in the service of state control. Uyghur Muslims are being tortured and indoctrinated in modern day concentration camps in Xinjiang. In Tibet, Buddhist monasteries are being destroyed and their faithful monitored and imprisoned. Practitioners of Falun Gong have been targeted as an extremist group and reports suggest that they have been subjected to utter horrors, including live organ harvesting.

I know that hon. Members in this place would agree with me that it is a fundamental basic human right to have the freedom to practise religion or, indeed, to have none. The people who I have spoken about today have suffered so much to stand up for that basic human right, and they have suffered all the more because they stand alone and because we have not been standing with them. The protection of these rights needs to be at the heart of UK foreign policy. We must do everything possible to ensure that people have the right to pursue their beliefs without fear. The Government have been asked multiple times about their position on the breaches of human rights in China and elsewhere. Although I have heard nice words and that our concerns are shared, I am anxious that the Government’s response has lacked depth, or—dare I say it—courage. The severity of the situation calls for a stronger reaction and a clear declaration of intent. Statements of concern from our Government are simply not enough. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office needs to be more than an extended department of trade, because if we in Britain will not stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, who are we?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. That idea has been mentioned a couple of times and I will come to it in a little while.

[Ms Lyn Brown]

May I say gently that my anxiety about that line, although I respect it, is that it is almost cultural imperialism? There are other countries that are not in need of our aid that are more substantially economically viable. That does not mean that they should not have our opprobrium because they do not need our dosh, to put it succinctly. The FCO is supposed to be one of the most skilled Foreign Offices in the world; I am sure it can find ways to apply pressure without taking food from those who need it most.

[Mrs Wheeler]

The hon. Lady’s intervention epitomises how difficult this matter is and how skilful our wonderful civil servants and others need to be on this matter.

In Iraq, the UK has committed more than £260 million in humanitarian support over the past six years. That funding has provided a vital lifeline for emergency food, shelter, medical care and clean water to the most vulnerable in Iraq, including members of minority communities such as the Christians and the Yazidis.

In Syria, Christians and other minorities have suffered dreadfully in the conflict, particularly at the hands of Daesh. The UK is working on a political settlement, which protects the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, and we are supporting work to bring accountability and justice to the people, including to survivors of religious persecution.

My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) spoke movingly, paragraph by paragraph, on the issues in Nigeria. I was almost ashamed to listen. Communities of all faiths have been affected by rising levels of violence. Communities of different religions live together peacefully across most of the country. Insurgent groups such as the Fulani, Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa seek to undermine the rights of freedom of religion as protected by the Nigerian constitution, with appalling attacks against civilians, including a recent spike in Christian targets. I will pass on my hon. Friend’s request to Department for International Development officials, to reply directly to her.

I was also asked what we have done to make clear to the Nigerian authorities at the highest levels the importance of protecting civilians, including ethnic and religious minorities. We regularly raise concerns with the Nigerian Government about the increasing levels of violence. Most recently, the Prime Minister did so during his meeting with President Buhari at the UK-Africa investment summit on 20 January. It was important that that question was asked of me, as we now have the answer on the record.