Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2525 on Bangladesh: Armed Forces and Police, what assessment his Department makes of the human rights obligations of the (a) UK and (b) other country when determining whether to train that country's armed forces personnel.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence uses an Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessment to ensure that our training and assistance work defends and promotes human rights. This is a longstanding framework used across Government. The OSJA framework is intended to assess and reduce the risks of our assistance contributing to human rights abuses by foreign governments and partners.
Assessments are continuously reviewed as and when either the proposed assistance or the situation in country changes.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2525 on Bangladesh: Armed Forces and Police, how many members of the Bangladeshi (a) police and (b) rapid action battalion have been trained at Sandhurst in the last ten years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
No Bangladeshi International Officer Cadets who have been trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the last ten years were members of the Bangladeshi Police or Rapid Action Battalion, either at the point of commencement or on completion of training.
The Department does not hold records on whether these personnel went on to join the Bangladeshi Police or Rapid Action Battalion following completion of training.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) members of the Bangladeshi police, (b) members of the Bangladeshi Rapid Action Battalion and (c) other Bangladeshi personnel have been trained at Sandhurst in the last five years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
No members of the Bangladeshi police or the Bangladeshi Rapid Action Battalion have been trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in the last five years. Given the relatively low numbers of Bangladeshi personnel who have been training at RMAS, commercial sensitivities and data protection legislation restricts the disclosure of the figure. I hope the hon. Member will understand that this is to protect the identities of those trained at RMAS.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether her Department has held meetings with representatives of CK Hutchison in the last 12 months.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Whilst this information is not held centrally, we have not identified any meetings between Ministry of Defence (MOD) and CK Hutchison in the last 12 months. I can confirm that the MOD holds no contracts with CK Hutchison.