Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to prevent miscarriages of justice as a result of the UK-US extradition treaty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to produce tangible results, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US. All individual extradition requests are subject to the Extradition Act 2003, which requires a UK judge to decide whether the requested person's extradition would be appropriate based on the safeguards and protections included in the Act. Extradition continues to be a vital tool in our fight against transnational crime. The US is one of our main extradition partners and it is in our national interest to have an effective extradition relationship.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with their US counterparts on the UK-US Extradition Treaty, in the context (i) the case of Anne Sacoolas and (ii) other prominent cases.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Extradition is a matter for the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not had recent discussions with the US on the UK-US Extradition Treaty.
With regards to Anne Sacoolas, she has now been sentenced. We engaged frequently with the US on this case when it was ongoing: in 2022, it was raised at least seven times by FCDO ministers or senior officials with US counterparts.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If he will make it his policy to provide consular support to British nationals detained in North East Syria.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Syria. The Embassy closed in 2012 and therefore we have no consular presence within Syria.
This makes it extremely challenging to provide direct help to British nationals located there. But we carefully consider every request for consular assistance on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant circumstances.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Minister or official authorised the Government Information Cell to collect data related to public statements, social media and internet activity as part of its work.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government Information Cell (GIC) was established in February 2022 to support the UK's response to Russian disinformation relating to their invasion of Ukraine. Overall responsibility for the GIC lies with the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he holds any information on how many people traffickers operating in the English Channel the French authorities have (a) arrested and (b) charged in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not the owner of this information and we are therefore unable to provide the requested details. However, if the French Government publishes these figures we will update the Rt. Hon David Davis MP separately.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any (a) children with UK nationality and (b) other UK nationals are being detained in facilities other than Camp Roj and Camp Al Hol in North East Syria as on 10 October 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We are aware that there may be British children in IDP camps in Syria, who because of their age, are innocent victims of the conflict. We cannot comment on locations or numbers of British nationals for security reasons.
There is no consular support available from within Syria to British nationals. However, the UK has been clear that we will consider requests for consular assistance on a case-by-case basis. The UK continues to facilitate the return of unaccompanied or orphaned children, where feasible, and subject to national security concerns and confirmation of nationality and identity.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department will provide for detention facilities in North East Syria in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK Government have robust processes in place to ensure that projects funded by the UK meet our human rights obligations and values. This includes publicly available HMG guidance that sets out the human rights risks that must be considered prior to providing justice or security sector assistance.
As said in the counter-Daesh statement to the House on 4 March 2021, as part of the Global Coalition's collective stabilisation efforts in the region, the UK has provided technical advice and funding for the improvement of detention facilities for Daesh fighters in NE Syria.
It would not be appropriate to comment further for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment under the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance guidance of the funding his Department provided for detention facilities in North East Syria.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK Government have robust processes in place to ensure that projects funded by the UK meet our human rights obligations and values. This includes publicly available HMG guidance that sets out the human rights risks that must be considered prior to providing justice or security sector assistance.
As said in the counter-Daesh statement to the House on 4 March 2021, as part of the Global Coalition's collective stabilisation efforts in the region, the UK has provided technical advice and funding for the improvement of detention facilities for Daesh fighters in NE Syria.
It would not be appropriate to comment further for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential level of support required by Ukraine to rebuild and recover from Russia's invasion.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We must support Ukraine’s vision for rebuilding a sovereign, prosperous, democratic nation that is stronger than before Putin’s invasion. Significant support will be required for Ukraine to recover and rebuild from the damage wrought by this war. In early July, the former Foreign Secretary presented our vision to support a Ukraine-led effort for recovery and reconstruction at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano. We will host the Conference in 2023 to galvanise further international support. The priority now is to address Ukraine’s immediate economic needs and in the longer term, leverage UK private sector investment and work to support Ukraine’s future economic growth.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish a list of people sanctioned under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, broken down by those (a) resident in the UK, (b) having ever lived in the UK and (c) holding assets in the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Details of all sanctioned individuals and entities are listed on the UK sanctions list, which can be found on gov.uk here [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-consolidated-list-of-targets?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=3ca20436-bbb9-43c0-95c9-40e4a3b404ec&utm_content=immediately].
We cannot disclose information on residency status or information regarding UK assets of those on the sanctions list. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) publishes an Annual Review which releases details of the total value of frozen funds held in the UK.