Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential relationship between Confucius Institutes in the UK and the (a) United Front Work Department and (b) Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to supporting the UK education sector to engage with China in a way that reflects the UK's values and takes account of national security concerns. Where we have clear evidence of behaviours that threaten our national security, we will of course act accordingly. However, as a matter of long-standing policy we will not comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Somalian counterpart on the protection of (a) civilians and (b) human rights during the Somali military offensive against al-Shabaab.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a major security partner of Somalia, working with international partners to counter al-Shabaab, build capacity of Somali forces and support the transition to Somali-led security. The UK has trained 1,771 Somalis in 2022. We cannot yet give figures for 2023. Protection of human rights is central to our security engagement and interventions, including through engagement with the Somali Government, as well as incorporating human rights language into UN resolutions in our role as penholder and mandating pre-deployment human rights training for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and Somali security forces personnel. The UK also advocates at all levels of Government that military planning for security operations against Al-Shabaab should look to minimise humanitarian impacts and that all security actors should respect International Humanitarian Law which includes the protection of civilians. This approach aligns with the recently published UK humanitarian framework.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Somalia National Army soldiers are due to be trained by UK armed forces in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a major security partner of Somalia, working with international partners to counter al-Shabaab, build capacity of Somali forces and support the transition to Somali-led security. The UK has trained 1,771 Somalis in 2022. We cannot yet give figures for 2023. Protection of human rights is central to our security engagement and interventions, including through engagement with the Somali Government, as well as incorporating human rights language into UN resolutions in our role as penholder and mandating pre-deployment human rights training for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and Somali security forces personnel. The UK also advocates at all levels of Government that military planning for security operations against Al-Shabaab should look to minimise humanitarian impacts and that all security actors should respect International Humanitarian Law which includes the protection of civilians. This approach aligns with the recently published UK humanitarian framework.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his department has set out human rights conditions to the Federal Government of Somalia relating to the provision of UK armed forces training to security forces in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a major security partner of Somalia, working with international partners to counter al-Shabaab, build capacity of Somali forces and support the transition to Somali-led security. The UK has trained 1,771 Somalis in 2022. We cannot yet give figures for 2023. Protection of human rights is central to our security engagement and interventions, including through engagement with the Somali Government, as well as incorporating human rights language into UN resolutions in our role as penholder and mandating pre-deployment human rights training for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and Somali security forces personnel. The UK also advocates at all levels of Government that military planning for security operations against Al-Shabaab should look to minimise humanitarian impacts and that all security actors should respect International Humanitarian Law which includes the protection of civilians. This approach aligns with the recently published UK humanitarian framework.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help reduce the ability of the Myanmar military to carry out airstrikes.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain very concerned by the horrific tactics used by the Myanmar military, including indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians. The UK frequently raises these issues in international statements, including at the UN Security Council (UNSC) and UN Human Rights Council.
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance to make it clear that UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities, such as aviation fuel, do not reach the Myanmar military. The UK is also using targeted sanctions against those who provide weapons and parts to the Myanmar Air Force.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff in his Department speak at least one of the following languages (a) Cantonese, (b) Hokkien, (c) a Turkic language spoken in China, or (d) Tibetan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO currently has fewer than 5 UK based staff with valid FCDO qualification in Cantonese. We have no UK based staff with valid FCDO qualifications in Hokkien, Turkic languages spoken in China or Tibetan. We do not hold figures on staff who speak languages to a lower level, who qualified outside of the FCDO, or those whose qualification has lapsed. Our embassies across the world also employ staff locally who are fluent in their native language.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with representatives from civil society organisations on the updated (a) Integrated Review and (b) Arctic Policy Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government will make a decision on whether to proceed with updating the Integrated Review in due course. If we proceed, we will engage with external experts and wider stakeholders with an interest in our nation's security and prosperity as part of the process of updating the Integrated Review.
FCDO officials have engaged with relevant experts and representatives from the Non-Government Organisation community as part of the development of a refreshed UK Arctic Policy Framework.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Ministry of Defence paper entitled The UK's Defence Contribution in the High North published on 29 March 2022, when he plans to publish the UK's updated Arctic Policy Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We are looking to publish an updated UK Arctic Policy Framework later this year.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to implement individual sanctions against officials from (a) Hong Kong and (b) China who are complicit with violations of (i) human rights violations and (ii) civil and democratic rights.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is clear that China remains in an ongoing state of non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Whilst we keep potential sanctions designations under close and regular review, it is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated in the future. To do so could reduce their impact.
Under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the UK has imposed asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese Government officials as well as an asset freeze against one entity responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang. We will continue to act with our likeminded partners to ensure that those responsible for gross human rights violations, both in China and across the globe, are held to account.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 8th of September 2022 from the hon. Member for Stirling on the location of the UK Embassy in Israel.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We are grateful to the Honourable member for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologise for the delay. A response will be issued in due course.