Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of Rwanda’s capacity to successfully integrate non-African refugees into society.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Rwanda has a strong history of welcoming refugees and protecting their rights. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), commended Rwanda for their "excellent job integrating refugees" in December 2021. People relocated under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will have all their needs looked after while their asylum claims are being considered in Rwanda. This includes safe and clean accommodation, food, healthcare and amenities. They will have full access to translators and will be able to access legal support to appeal decisions in Rwanda's courts. Rwanda's constitution includes a broad prohibition on discrimination. We have carried out a robust assessment of the country which demonstrates our commitment to fully evaluating whether Rwanda would be suitable for each potentially eligible person to be relocated.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the capacity of the Rwandan Government to successfully integrate refugees into society.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Rwanda has a strong history of welcoming refugees and protecting their rights. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), commended Rwanda for their "excellent job integrating refugees" in December 2021. People relocated under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will have all their needs looked after while their asylum claims are being considered in Rwanda. This includes safe and clean accommodation, food, healthcare and amenities. They will have full access to translators and will be able to access legal support to appeal decisions in Rwanda's courts. Rwanda's constitution includes a broad prohibition on discrimination. We have carried out a robust assessment of the country which demonstrates our commitment to fully evaluating whether Rwanda would be suitable for each potentially eligible person to be relocated.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of press freedom in Rwanda.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK Government firmly believes that a free media and vibrant civil society are vital for a healthy and well-functioning democracy. We discuss these issues regularly with the Government of Rwanda through our High Commission in Kigali and at Ministerial level, most recently on 18 May where I met Foreign Minister Biruta.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Hong Kong Government on border restrictions on people travelling from the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are in contact with the Hong Kong SAR Government to minimise the disruption to UK and Hong Kong families and businesses.
However it is the authorities in the country or territory a person wishes to travel to, who are responsible for setting and enforcing the rules for entry. The Hong Kong authorities have informed us that the decisions will be reviewed every two weeks.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the employee number threshold over which listed public authorities must report gender pay gaps and publish equal pay statements.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Bodies) regulations introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting in 2017 to large public sector employers in England and non-devolved authorities. The threshold of 250 employees was determined following a public consultation and mirrors the requirements for employers in the private and voluntary sectors. The employee threshold and other aspects of the reporting metrics is under review to assess their effectiveness in exposing the causes of the pay gap in individual organisations and employers’ progress in tackling them. We will use this evidence to consider changes to the reporting legislation, consulting on any proposed amendments by 2021.
Equal pay statements are not required outside of Scotland and the policy is therefore not subject to review by central Government. However, in 2020 we will review the enforcement of equal pay legislation more broadly, to ensure it is working as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent to which Israel’s internal investigations into the killings of Palestinian health workers comply with international standards of independence, impartiality, promptness, thoroughness, and transparency.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure people responsible for attacks on health workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory face justice.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to meet its international obligations to prevent torture and ill treatment throughout the world.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on the case of Ahmed Saddouma.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is a long-standing policy of the United Kingdom to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We have particular concerns in Egypt regarding Article 122 of the Child Law in Egypt and cases involving the death penalty and juveniles. Embassy officials have repeatedly raised Ahmed Saddouma's case with the Egyptian authorities since September 2018 – most recently on 9 May. We closely monitored his appeal and a UK official attended the hearing on 8 June. We welcome the decision to commute his death sentence.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps the Government is taking to promote human rights in Egypt.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Egypt is a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Priority Country and the UK continues to urge the Egyptian Government to ensure full implementation of the rights and freedoms set out in Egypt's Constitution. We regularly raise concerns about human rights with the Egyptian Government both in public and in private including at Ministerial level. Our concerns are also raised through our statements at the UN Human Rights Council and our Human Rights and Democracy Report published on 6 June