Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage the United Nations Security Council to refer the people responsible for the situation of the Rohinga in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.
Answered by Mark Field
It is our assessment pushing for a Security Council resolution that includes a referral to the International Criminal Court would not be productive in our efforts at this point to ensure accountability and persuade the Burmese authorities to make faster progress on refugee returns, nor would it receive support without veto amongst UNSC members. When the UN Security Council considers the final UN Fact Finding Mission report on Burma, we will have the opportunity to explore urgently all options to ensure accountability, including ICC referral, while also pushing for accelerated progress on refugee returns.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps are being taken at international level to advocate for the protection of the Antarctic.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The United Kingdom is a leading voice in the Antarctic Treaty System. The UK wants to ensure that the Antarctic Treaty continues to be a respected and influential agreement. We play a highly active role in the annual meetings of the Consultative Parties, and in meetings of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) and Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The UK has consistently lobbied for greater environmental protection of Antarctica and this year has seen UK led initiatives relating to tourism management, terrestrial protected areas and heritage conservation agreed by Treaty Parties. We will continue to press for the full implementation of the Treaty's Environmental Protocol which prohibits commercial mining and protects vulnerable areas, animals and plants.
Within CCAMLR the UK is committed to establishing a representative network of marine protected areas around Antarctica. The UK led the proposal for the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area (MPA), which was the first MPA agreed by CCAMLR in 2009. The UK also successfully led a proposal to protect marine areas newly exposed by ice shelf retreat or collapse, and after the massive iceberg broke off from the Larsen Ice Shelf last year, the UK secured protective measures for the area of sea exposed by the ice. The UK also strongly supported the designation of the Ross Sea region MPA, agreed in 2016 and is a co-proponent of the proposals to establish MPAs in the Weddell Sea and East Antarctica, which are under consideration at the 37th CCAMLR meeting in October 2018.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on UK arms sales to countries that are part of the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I am in regular communication with the Secretary of State for International Trade, my Rt. Hon Friend the member for North Somerset (Dr Liam Fox) on these issues.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met his counterpart in Cameroon; and what issues were discussed at that meeting.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I have not yet had the opportunity to meet my counterpart in the Cameroonian Government but hope we can meet when our diaries allow. I know that the FCO and our High Commissioner is in regular contact with President Biya and his administration.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Cameroon on internet access in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are closely following the situation in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon following on from the demonstrations and strikes by lawyers and teachers. We are engaged with the Government of Cameroon and will continue to raise the internet blackout with them.
We have called for restraint by all involved, and have petitioned the government to restore the internet as soon as possible. We have reiterated the obligation to uphold human rights standards and encouraged the use of transparent legal means to address concerns. We have regularly called for issues to be resolved through dialogue, with a range of interlocutors, and a return to normality in the two regions.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Yemeni counterpart on the free entry and movement of journalists in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Government recognises the importance of free movement of journalists to cover issues of global importance. This must be balanced against security and safety considerations. The Government currently advises against all travel to Yemen.
I last spoke to the Yemeni Foreign Minister Mikhlafi on 23 February. We discussed the importance of making progress towards a political settlement, including protecting human rights.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Sudanese counterpart on the imprisonment of Reverend Hassan Abduraheem, Petr Jašek and Abdulmonem Abdumawla.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We welcome the release of Mr Petr Jasek, but remain concerned about the sentencing of Pastor Hassan Abduelraheem Kodi and Mr Abdulmonem Abdumawlla. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum regularly raise this case with the Government of Sudan, most recently with the Director for Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25 February.
More widely, we remain concerned at the continued persecution of Christians in Sudan. We continue to raise the importance of freedom of religion or belief in our human rights dialogue with the Government of Sudan. We urge the government to uphold the commitment to religious freedom in the Interim Constitution of 2005.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on further lifting of the restrictions on the number of visitor visas for Iranian nationals to visit the UK.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
UK Visas & Immigration offers a visa service from the Visa Application Centre in Tehran. This service is open to all categories of visa applicants. We continue to discuss migration issues with the Iranian authorities; most recently I discussed with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister during my visit to Tehran on 18 January 2017.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) facilities and (b) other support his Department provides for (i) visitors and (ii) staff for (A) lactating mothers and (B) the expressing of breast milk.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Across the UK Estate we provide a range of rooms that can be used by nursing mothers and mothers wishing to express. Room options include our first aid rooms, wellbeing rooms which are private and any meeting room where there is adequate privacy. Expressed milk can be stored in any office refrigerator. Arrangements are set out in our FCO intranet pages.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the government of Bulgaria the issue of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community being denied the right to register as a religious organisation in Bulgaria.
Answered by David Lidington
We are aware of the concerns of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bulgaria. The UK supports the right to freedom of religion or belief for every individual. We would expect the Bulgarian Government to meet its international obligations to ensure freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens.