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Written Question
Burkina Faso: Churches
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his counterpart in the Burkina Faso Government on the church attack in Oudalan Province on 25 February 2024.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is appalled by the recent attacks against Churches, Mosques and local communities in Burkina Faso. As Lord Ahmad said last week, freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a fundamental right and must be protected, and those responsible for these heinous attacks must be held to account. The UK also signed up to the UN Security Council statement on terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso issued on 29 February 2024. We routinely discuss security challenges with the transitional authorities in Burkina Faso and continue to work with partners in the region to promote stability.


Written Question
Red Sea: Piracy
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Oral Statement of the Secretary of State for Defence of 5 February 2024 on Situation in the Red Sea, Official Report, column 22, whether the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs discussed the consequences to Iran of failing to stop Houthi attacks during his meeting with his Iranian counterpart last month.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary sent a clear message during his meeting with his Iranian counterpart on 17 January. The Foreign Secretary made clear that Iran must use its influence with the Houthis to prevent further strikes, and that Iran must cease its support to the Houthi's illegal and unacceptable attacks. We will continue to work with international partners to deter Iran's destabilising activity, including by holding Iran to account in multilateral fora and through sanctions; addressing Iranian weapons proliferation; and maintaining our permanent defence presence in the region.


Written Question
Middle East: UN Agencies
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to the UN on the potential steps it can take to ensure it has the confidence of donor nations in relation to the operations of its relief and works agencies in the Middle East.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We are appalled by allegations that United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned. We are pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations. We are looking to our partners in the UN to carry out a robust and comprehensive investigation. In the meantime, we are getting on with aid delivery through funding multiple implementing partners including other UN agencies and international and UK NGOs. This support is helping people in Gaza get food, water, shelter and medicines.


Written Question
International Development Association: Finance
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what his planned timetable is for the allocation of the £1.4 billion pledge to the International Development Association's replenishment fund.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK has committed £1.4 billion to the World Bank's International Development Association 20th (IDA20) replenishment. We will fund this by depositing promissory notes within the IDA20 cycle, which ends on 30 June 2025. The promissory notes will be encashed by the World Bank quarterly, for 6 years, starting from January 2025 and with the last encashment expected to be in April 2031. The UK has already made its first promissory note deposit to IDA20 in December 2023.


Written Question
India: Religious Buildings
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with the Government of India on steps it is taking in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in December 2023 relating to proposals for the restoration of places of worship that have been affected by the violence in Manipur.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities. We have a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship, including our concerns where we have them. During his visit to India in May 2023, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, discussed FoRB with the Government of India, leaders of faith groups and others, and raised the current situation in Manipur with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs. The UK's diplomatic network in India will continue to engage on FoRB and to closely monitor the situation in Manipur.


Written Question
Gaza: Humanitarian Aid
Wednesday 17th January 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an estimate of the amount and proportion of UK aid sent to Gaza that was not used for its intended purpose by Hamas in the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

All UK aid undergoes rigorous oversight. Our programmes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories operate with enhanced sensitivity with additional safeguards to protect against any possibility of aid diversion. They include measures to verify and map downstream partners, non-payment of local taxes, and enhanced due-diligence processes. We constantly review the due-diligence assessments in place with all partners involved in delivering aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. No funding goes to Hamas and we have no information to indicate that UK aid sent to Gaza over the last five years has been used for unintended purposes.


Written Question
Nigeria: Development Aid
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of the population of Nigeria on the UK's aid budget in the next 10 years.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Nigeria's rapid population growth will put additional pressures on areas such as healthcare, education and food security. FCDO's Official Development Allowance allocations are regularly reviewed to respond to changing global needs and decisions are informed by a range of data and information sources, including poverty levels, humanitarian need, geopolitical prioritisation and the ability of a country to make effective use of aid and to self-finance poverty reduction.


Written Question
Chelsea Football Club: Sales
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent progress the Financial Sanctions Implementation Office has made on the dispersal of the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC are frozen in a UK bank account while independent experts establish a foundation to manage and distribute the money. They cannot be moved or used without a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. We want this money to reach Ukraine as quickly as possible and remain open to any arrangement that clearly delivers this.


Written Question
Rwanda: Refugees
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of refugees relocated to Rwanda via resettlement schemes from other countries.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

In October 2023, Rwanda hosted 135,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Rwanda hosts the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM), which facilitates the temporary evacuation of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya. By September 2023, 1,737 refugees and asylum seekers had arrived in Rwanda under the ETM. Once in Rwanda, the UNHCR registers and verifies the refugees and asylum seekers and determines their refugee status. Rwanda currently hosts 698 refugees and asylum seekers under this scheme, pending resettlement in third countries. They also have the option of returning to their home countries or staying and integrating in Rwanda, although no refugees have chosen this so far.

We are also aware from open source reporting of refugees from Afghanistan and Sudan who have successfully resettled in Rwanda, including:

a) The entire student body of the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), a girls' boarding school which relocated from Kabul to Rwanda after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Nearly 250 members of the SOLA community, including all 100 students, arrived in Rwanda. More Afghan students continue to arrive and live/stay at the school in Rwanda each year.

b) Sudan's University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) relocated to Rwanda because of civil war in its home country. The UMST plans to transfer over 7,000 students to Rwanda. So far, 280 students have arrived in Kigali, been granted student visas, and are continuing their studies.


Written Question
Argentina: Lithium
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Argentinian counterpart on lithium supply to the UK.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Securing a sustainable supply of lithium globally is crucial to delivering Net Zero. Cooperation on lithium therefore forms an important part of our engagement with Argentina. During my visit to Argentina in February, I (Minister Rutley) discussed the UK's role as a key scientific, academic, and economic partner in lithium exploration in meetings with the then Argentine Vice-Foreign Minister, building on exchanges at senior official and expert level. We look forward to working with the Milei government on the many areas in which our countries stand to gain through cooperation, including the global supply of lithium.