Syria and the Use of Chemical Weapons

Debate between Andrew Mitchell and Jim Shannon

Thursday 29th August 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The views of the NGOs on this matter are mixed, but what is clear is that part of the contribution that Britain can make—and other countries more so—to the humanitarian situation is to fund the NGOs and agencies that are working cross-border. Virtually all the aid currently goes through Damascus. Very little aid goes cross-border into the rebel-held territory, which means that, in effect, the international community is preventing the areas controlled by the regime from starving, but starving the areas held by the rebels.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Mitchell]

I am afraid I have had my injury time.

I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), but this is a complex situation and the NGOs on the ground disagree on the matter. Even at this late stage, we must continue to demand unfettered access for those brilliant people in the humanitarian and relief community who are risking their lives daily and to whom my hon. Friend has referred.

Finally, we come to the present situation. Chemical weapons have been used. War crimes have been committed. A violation of international law has taken place. This is a regime which stoops to gas its own people. It is hard to think of a situation which more rightly triggers the Responsibility to Protect that has been referred to this afternoon. In my view, failure by the international community to act would be far more dangerous than taking evidence-based, proportionate and legal military action as a clear lesson to human rights abusers and dictators who murder and terrorise innocent civilian populations.

Humanitarian Emergency Response Review

Debate between Andrew Mitchell and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The answer is that I will and I have. I commend to the hon. Lady the 35-page report, which should now be on the internet, and I urge her to have a look at it and respond if she has any additional comments—as I urge all hon. Members to do.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

All the humanitarian aid we give for natural disasters, such as that in Pakistan, or to countries with civil unrest, such as Syria, Egypt and Sudan, is good news. However, the feedback from some of those countries is that those of a Christian faith and in evangelical Churches are at the back of the queue and ignored when it comes to humanitarian aid. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that that two-tier system of assistance will not continue to disadvantage those of that faith in those countries?

[Mr Mitchell]

I hear those allegations from time to time and I always ensure that they are investigated with the seriousness and rigour that such allegations obviously deserve. We have set up a working party with all the faith communities, which will commence work shortly. That will be quite a good issue for the faith communities to address and advise on. On the hon. Gentleman’s specific point, we take all such matters extremely seriously and investigate them immediately.

Pakistan Floods

Debate between Andrew Mitchell and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his generous remarks about my officials, which I will pass on to them, and to others in Whitehall. He is right to stress the importance of the very inclusive approach that we are taking in working with the diaspora communities and with all people who want to assist in tackling this dreadful crisis. The spirit of what he said is embodied in the decision by the Government of Pakistan to take up a proposal from the Opposition to set up a high-level committee to co-ordinate the Government response to the crisis, so I hope he feels that notice is being taken of the importance of everyone putting aside any differences and concentrating on helping in a disaster, which even today is still leaving millions of people without any form of support.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his very positive response. In my church on Sunday, as in many churches in my constituency and further afield—in fact, right across the United Kingdom—there was a collection for the people of Pakistan. It is therefore disturbing to be made aware that there is discrimination in some cases—more localised than systematic, I have to say—against people in the Christian community, who say that they are not receiving the relief aid that they should. In his statement, the right hon. Gentleman said that “every penny spent achieves a meaningful output that alleviates the suffering” of all the victims. Will he assure us today that the people in the Christian community in Pakistan, who have been discriminated against through no fault of their own and who are equally subject to the effects of the floods, will be looked after, and will receive the relief that we in the United Kingdom wish them to have?

[Mr Mitchell]

I have not heard the details of what the hon. Gentleman has said, but in view of his concerns, I will certainly look in detail at what he said, and I shall write to him to advise him of what I discover.