Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he will take to ensure that perpetrators of atrocities in Yemen are held to account.
Answered by Mark Field
If any activity occurs that is suspected of being non-compliant with international humanitarian law, we will raise this with the relevant authorities and will expect them to investigate it fully and swiftly, and to take action if any wrongdoing is found to have occurred.
The UK joined the consensus on the UN Human Rights Council resolution that established the Group of Eminent Experts. The Resolution mandated a group of eminent experts to examine the human rights situation in Yemen. The UK believes it is important to give the Group of Eminent Experts more time to fully examine the conflict and to ensure that their conclusions accurately reflect the conduct of all parties in future reporting. In September 2018 we supported the renewal of the existing mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts for a further year.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the UK plans next to use its penholder status to table a new humanitarian draft resolution on Yemen at the UN Security Council.
Answered by Mark Field
On Friday 21 December 2018, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to adopt Security Council Resolution 2451, a UK-led resolution to bolster the UN Yemen peace process and address the humanitarian situation in Yemen. Later on 16 January 2019, UN Security Council Resolution 2452 was unanimously agreed. It was drafted by the UK and establishes a six month UN mission to monitor and support implementation of the Hodeidah ceasefire and redeployment of forces. We encourage both parties to proactively follow through on their obligations under these Security Council Resolutions and will continue to use our role as penholder to support the UN-led political process.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussion he has had with his Saudi and Emirate counterparts on allowing journalists access to the north of Yemen; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Our concerns about freedom of the press are well known by the Saudi and Emirati authorities. We consistently underline the importance of respect for freedom of speech and of the press.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of a military assault on Hodeida port in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition on the prospects of a UN-negotiated peace plan.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government has been clear in expressing its concerns about any attack on Hodeidah. We call upon all sides to show restraint, urgently de-escalate and engage in good faith in the political process. It is essential that the UN Special Envoy is given the time and space needed to facilitate a negotiated solution that avoids conflict in the city. We continue to be unequivocal in stressing that only a political solution can bring long-term stability to Yemen – there is no military solution.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to stop arms sales to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) United Arab Emirates in the event that the Saudi-led coalition initiates a military attack on Hodeida in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Export licences for all countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU & National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We keep our assessments under careful and continual review, in light of events. The Criteria state, among other things, that the Government will not grant a licence where there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 Israeli counterpart on the reported killing of nurse Razan Ashraf Al Najjar by the Israeli military.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv raised our concern about this case with the relevant Israeli authorities on 1 June. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary expressed their concern about the loss of Palestinian lives in the recent protests in Gaza when they met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in London on 6 June.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to push for an independent investigation into the recent deaths of Palestinians by the Israeli military.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Prime Minster stressed the need for Israel to carry out a transparent, independent inquiry into recent protests in Gaza when she met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in London on 6 June.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the UN on the effectiveness of the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK fully supports the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM). We continue to work with our regional and international partners to provide support to speed up the clearance process for ships and improve commercial access. British Officials will hold discussions with UNVIM in Djibouti and Amman in the coming weeks to discuss ways of strengthening the mechanism. We also aim to increase UNVIM's capacity through the deployment of additional inspectors to UNVIM HQ in Djibouti and to ports around the region. This could increase UNVIM inspection capacity fivefold.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to progress the peace talks between parties to conflict in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is playing a leading role in diplomatic efforts, including bringing together key international actors to try to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Yemen. As part of this we proposed the Presidential Statement passed at the UN Security Council in June this year, which called for an end to the fighting and a return to UN-led peace talks. We are now working urgently with our international and regional partners to ensure that the Security Council's words are converted into action. We call on all parties to respect these unified and clear demands from the international community. More recently, the Foreign Secretary hosted a meeting of his US, Saudi and Emirati counterparts in our Embassy in Paris on 23 January. They discussed ways of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, countering weapons smuggling and refocusing the political track to move towards a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department has received from the Saudi-led Coalition on the location and inspection system of the 17 safe-passage corridors from 6 points of entry announced on 22 January 2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We continue to engage with the Saudi-led Coalition on its Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations Plan (YCHOP). Improving humanitarian access to all of Yemen is key to alleviating the crisis. Continued access for commercial supplies, including food and fuel through the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef, is critical to ensuring that the Yemeni people get the supplies they so desperately need. The Coalition has publicly stated that corridor originating points will include Al Khadara, Al Tuwal, Hodeidah, Mokha, Aden and Marib.