Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elliot Colburn and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Tuesday 12th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

We all take these issues very seriously. I was in Sri Lanka just a few weeks ago, and I was able to raise the need for progress on human rights, on reconciliation and, indeed, on accountability with the President of Sri Lanka during my visit.

[Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con)]

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Tamils, may I ask my right hon. Friend the Minister to assure the House that the FCDO is actively considering the evidence for sanctioning those credibly accused of war crimes who are active participants in Sri Lankan high society, and that she will pass that evidence on to the United Nations Human Rights Council, in line with resolution 30/1?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I commend my hon. Friend for his active and championing work as chair of the APPG. He is right, and we absolutely recognise the concerns of the Sri Lankan public, and indeed victim groups, about the creation of a credible domestic accountability process. We continue to urge the Sri Lankan Government to address those concerns. As I said, I raised them when I was there. I was also able to discuss human rights and justice issues with members of civil society, Tamil representatives and the governor of the Northern Province when I visited Jaffna.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elliot Colburn and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Tuesday 8th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con)]

16. What diplomatic steps he is taking to help address human rights concerns in Sri Lanka.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

In October, the UK and our partners within the UN Human Rights Council led a new resolution—resolution 51.1—on Sri Lanka. It renewed the international framework to report on Sri Lanka and preserve evidence of past human rights abuses to use in future accountability processes. We call on Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights, justice and accountability.

[Elliot Colburn]

As chair of all-party parliamentary group on Tamils, and also through hearing from Tamils in Carshalton and Wallington, I am clear that the economic situation in Sri Lanka is allowing human rights abuses against Tamils to continue. I welcome the UK’s efforts in the UN to bring about the peace, accountability and justice that the Tamils are fighting for, but what assurances can my right hon. Friend give me that any economic support given to Sri Lanka will be dependent on—and will be expected to come with—progress on implementing the UN resolutions?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The UK is working with international partners, including at the Paris Club, to facilitate economic support for Sri Lanka through an International Monetary Fund programme. The IMF does not have the ability to impose political or human rights-linked conditionality; it can only impose conditionality linked to economic policy or tackling balance of payments challenges. An IMF programme is contingent on progress on reforms, including a comprehensive anti-corruption agenda.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elliot Colburn and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con) [V]]

  The Beddington incinerator is one of the biggest carbon polluters in Carshalton and Wallington. I have previously raised concerns about recyclable materials being sent for incineration. What estimates has the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy made of the quantity of recyclable materials sent to so-called energy-from-waste operations, and what steps has the Department taken to ensure that those activities record carbon output accurately?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The proportion of residual waste sent to landfill, incineration and transfer stations that could otherwise have been recycled in England in 2020 is not available, I am afraid, but data on waste arisings are not structured around the material composition of waste streams. For both fossil and biogenic CO₂ for energy-from-waste plants, national emissions estimates are based on an emission factor derived using the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default factor for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elliot Colburn and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The covid crisis has removed 1.5 billion children from school, putting the most disadvantaged girls at risk of dropping out of school permanently. School closures will significantly reduce learning hours, particularly for the most disadvantaged children, and we risk many dropping out permanently. Prior to the crisis, 258 million children and young people globally were already out of school—over half of them girls. The Ebola crisis showed us that female pupils bear the brunt of school closures during disease outbreaks, leading to higher levels of sexual exploitation, abuse, teenage pregnancy and early marriage, so we will continue to prioritise education for all as part of the international response.

[Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con)]

What steps the Government are taking to support innovative research in (a) the UK and (b) throughout the world in the development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for covid-19.