Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

There is always consular assistance for those who have been injured overseas. I am not aware of any British nationals being injured, but my hon. Friend is right to point out that a number of humanitarian workers have been injured and—I think I am right in saying—more than 40 killed while delivering aid to people inside Syria.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the letter that the Secretary of State sent to me on the subject of Syria. She referred to the demands of the Security Council to grant rapid, safe and unhindered access to those in need inside Syria and to the continued use of siege and starvation tactics as a weapon of war. What exactly are we doing at the Security Council to try to resolve this impasse? I know her Department is doing various other things, but we really ought to be pushing the Security Council hard.

[Justine Greening]

The right hon. Lady is right. I discussed this matter with Baroness Amos, who heads up the UN agency tackling humanitarian assistance. It has now presented its third report to the UN Security Council, outlining grave concerns about the Syrian regime’s defiance, in many respects, of the resolution on allowing humanitarian access. Our role is to continue to push and to look at ways we can remove some of the barriers that the regime is putting in place as excuses to stop aid getting through.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

DFID is committed to investing in education in developing countries to support all children’s learning. As our programmes on inclusive education mature, we are looking for new partners to work with us to develop innovative and effective strategies for supporting children with learning disabilities in mainstream education environments.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

T4. Nearly 3 million civilians are cut off completely from aid in Syria. What is the Secretary of State doing to help those starving and desperate people?

[Justine Greening]

First, the right hon. Lady will be aware that shortly after the UN General Assembly, there was finally a presidential statement on humanitarian access in Syria. It is incredibly important that we now see those commitments fulfilled. My discussions with Valerie Amos, who heads up the humanitarian arm of the UN, show that we are making progress, but the right hon. Lady is right to point out that it is a continuing challenge. If we cannot reach people in Syria, that is a breach of international humanitarian law.

Afghanistan

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I shall certainly look closely at that report. On the Taliban, I refer my hon. Friend to my earlier comments that a sustainable political solution will involve the participation of all members of Afghan society. President Karzai has been very clear that he wants to engage with the Taliban, but he has three conditions: first, they must renounce violence; secondly, they must break their links with al-Qaeda; and, thirdly, they must recognise democracy and the fact that they should be part of the Afghanistan constitution.

The broader regional talks to which my hon. Friend refers are absolutely right. A safe and secure Afghanistan is absolutely in the interests of Pakistan. He mentioned Russia, but Iran was also at the Istanbul conference. That shows that regional countries understand that working towards a secure and stable Afghanistan is in everybody’s interests, including the UK’s.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State to her new role and wish her the best of luck in it.

Hon. Members have spoken a lot about women in Afghanistan in the past few years, but we need more detail on what talks are going on to protect the considerable gains that have been achieved for them. I meet Afghan women MPs twice a year in Inter-Parliamentary Union delegations. I find it amazing that they feel too constrained to be able to speak freely with us because of the person leading the delegation, who is, of course, usually a man. We therefore need to know the detail of what is happening to ensure that the gains made for women are and will be protected. That is extremely important.

[Justine Greening]

I ask the right hon. Lady to take a careful look at the Tokyo mutual accountability framework, which includes discussions specifically on protecting women’s rights and, critically, delivering them on the ground—I will take a close personal interest in the matter.

The right hon. Lady asks for specifics. The mutual accountability framework includes ensuring the proper implementation of the elimination of violence against women law, which has been passed, and the national action plan for the women of Afghanistan. I understand that many people will listen to me and think, “Those are fine words, but what will actually happen on the ground?” The key point is that this is a process. The Tokyo conference was important because, for the very first time, it solidified in writing many of the reforms that we want the Afghan Government to take forward in return for the financing settlement, which sits alongside the reforms, and which will be delivered by the international community.

Monitoring and reviews will take place, and the UK will play a key role in them. We were asked by the Afghan Government to co-chair the first ministerial review in 2014, but, as I am sure the right hon. Lady knows, an officials’ review will take place next year. We will pay very close attention to the whole agenda.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

We have channelled significant funding through UN agencies such as the World Food Programme, the UNHCR and the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some humanitarian agencies have requested us not to name them publicly as they are concerned that their staff and operations could be put at risk. We fully respect those concerns, and I can assure the House that all UK funding is nevertheless going to humanitarian agencies with a proven ability to operate in Syria.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

As the Minister has said, we must be grateful to neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. Is it correct that Iraqi Kurdistan and Switzerland are considering taking Syrian refugees because some of the neighbouring countries are already saying that they cannot cope?

[Mr Duncan]

A few Syrians—currently about 6,000—have crossed into Iraq. Those who do are predominantly Kurdish, as the right hon. Lady says. They mainly go to the north, although some go to Anbar and Baghdad. The camp at Domiz near Dahuk houses 3,500 such people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

My hon. Friend the Minister for Equalities is the UK’s ministerial champion on tackling violence against women and girls overseas. She has made successful visits to India and Nepal, for example, to raise awareness of this agenda, and DFID has increased its focus in 25 out of our 28 bilateral programmes to tackle violence against women.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

In assisting women’s groups in Egypt, the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs recently went on a visit and met some of them. One of the issues raised with us, particularly by women who had demonstrated in Tahrir square, was the forced virginity tests that many of them had to undertake. A military court has just acquitted the doctor responsible of the charges against him. Will the Minister raise this issue in conversations with any Egyptian counterparts?

[Mr Duncan]

The answer to the right hon. Lady’s question is most definitely yes. We are working through the Arab partnership that we set up specifically to encourage groups, and women in particular, in developing countries following the Arab spring. The agenda that the right hon. Lady has championed for many years is one that we share.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that UNRWA’s remit extends beyond the Palestinian territories themselves. Conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan remain fragile, and DFID funds UNRWA to provide essential services to all these refugees across the region. In 2011 our support helped to provide maternal health care to 263,000 women, education for 45,000 children, and food and income support for 29,000 refugees. We are in close contact with UNRWA as it strives to maintain services in Syria.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

What assistance will the Government give to the Palestinians whose houses have recently been demolished?

[Mr Duncan]

Most of the support to refugees is given through UNRWA, but we are giving our full support to the Palestinian Authority, it being the effective government of the west bank, and through it we hope to ensure that all those affected are properly supported by access to the full legal rights necessary to pursue any claims that they might have.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

The Minister does not have to visit the region to know what the problem is. Every night on television we are seeing children dying, the elderly dying and livestock dying—it is obvious what is happening. The aid agencies are short of money and surely we can do more right now.

[Mr Mitchell]

I can reassure the right hon. Lady. We were the first people to make it clear that we would give strong support, helping 1.3 million people in Ethiopia and ensuring that mothers with babies and children—330,000 of them—would receive rapid support. The Disasters Emergency Committee appeal has kicked into play and we are considering additional support to that which we are already giving to take account of the situation that she described in southern Somalia and particularly in Dadaab, which is now the biggest refugee camp in the world.

Humanitarian Emergency Response Review

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. Of course, people who live in conflict areas lose out twice over, first because they are very poor and secondly because they are permanently frightened by the conflict that is going on around them. That is why the coalition Government have made an absolute priority of doing much more in conflicted areas to bring help to people who are doubly cursed in that way. He is also right to point out that although humanitarian relief should always be circumstance-blind and help those who are in great need, proper co-ordination among all those who can help is essential.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

As the Secretary of State knows, there is a continuing argument in the development community about whether it is appropriate for the military to deliver humanitarian aid. I should like to pay my own tribute to the British armed forces, whom I have seen in many parts of the world delivering humanitarian aid to people who would have died if they had not been there at the appropriate time.

[Mr Mitchell]

The right hon. Lady makes a truly excellent point. Like her, I have seen how the military have delivered to desperate people at times of great need. We saw it, indeed, in Pakistan last year. We have not needed military support to deliver aid in Libya so far, although the military have been willing to provide it. I have discussed the matter frequently with Valerie Amos, who takes a sensible and pragmatic view in the interests, which we all serve, of trying to get aid and support through to people who are in great need.

Ivory Coast (Humanitarian Situation)

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

Children in particular are innocent victims in this conflict. Will the Minister make it clear that we will not tolerate the increasing recruitment of children to take part in armed conflict?

[Mr O’Brien]

We do indeed hear reports that children are again being recruited to fight as soldiers, mainly to replace members of the armed forces loyal to former President Gbagbo who are now leaving the forces or switching sides. For the former president and those who surround him to imagine that it is ever legitimate even to contemplate recruiting anyone who is under age to fight for him is completely unacceptable. No doubt NGOs and others will document the incidence of such recruitment to ensure that evidence is available should it be required for the purpose of bringing those responsible before the International Criminal Court.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann Clwyd Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations in the Chamber. I remind colleagues that we are about to discuss humanitarian aid to the people of Libya.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

10. What humanitarian aid his Department is providing to the people of Libya.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

We have provided funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has sent in three medical teams, medical supplies to treat 3,000 people affected by fighting, and essential relief items for up to 100,000 of the most vulnerable.

[Ann Clwyd]

As the Minister knows, a team from Amnesty International has been in Libya for the past month, and it has found evidence of hundreds of missing and detained people. Given Gaddafi’s track record of extreme cruelty and torture, will he try to ensure that, at the very least, the ICRC has access to those detained people, so that news can be given to their families and they can have some contact with them?

[Mr Mitchell]

The right hon. Lady, who rightly always champions these issues, is entirely correct, which is why we and the United Nations have called strongly for unfettered access for humanitarian agencies. We continue to call for that access to be given throughout Libya.