Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering people smuggling in the Balkans in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government takes a comprehensive approach towards tackling irregular migration through, and from, the Western Balkans, including through partnerships and cooperation in the region to strengthen border security, disrupt organised immigration crime and build partnerships on returns. Bilateral agreements are currently in place with Albania, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia. UK Overseas Development Assistance in the Western Balkans, focussed on Albania, complements these efforts through funding programme activities that help to address underlying causes of irregular migration. In financial year (FY) 2023/24 the spend on this was £2.89 million, and in FY 2024/25 £2.3m (to date). The UK Government will use the forthcoming European Political Community (EPC) in Albania, and our hosting of the Berlin Process to continue to develop the range of our co-operation with countries in the Western Balkans.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering extremism in Syria in each of the last five years.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to combatting all forms of terrorism emanating from Syria, including from Daesh and the threat they present to our citizens. As members of the Global Coalition against Daesh, we will continue to work with partners in order to ensure that Daesh's territorial defeat endures, and they can never resurge. Since Financial Year 2020-2021, approximately £18.7 million of Official Development Assistance has been used to support Countering Violent Extremism activities in Syria. This includes approximately £1.4 million in 2020-21, £2.5 million in 2021-22, £3.8 million in 2022-23, £5.1 million in 2023-24 and £5.7 million in 2024-25.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering people smuggling in North Africa in each of the last five years.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The North Africa Cooperation on Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking (NACSAT) project provided £3.1 million for a UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) anti-people smuggling programme across Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Egypt in the three years up to November 2021. Across fiscal years 2022 to 2025, the UK has provided a further £490,000 to UNODC programmes training North Africa law enforcement and border officials to identify and respond to cases of suspected people smuggling. The Foreign Secretary is clear that migration, including the disruption of people smuggling and organised immigration crime, is a top Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office priority.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering extremism in Jordan in each of the last five years.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Jordan has allocated no funding to Countering extremism in the last five years from neither an Intergrated Security Fund, nor a Counter Terrorism Programme Fund perspective.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering extremism in Iraq in each of the last five years..
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We share with Iraq an ambition to combat terrorism and violent extremism, including Daesh and the threats it presents to our citizens. As members of the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh, we will continue to work with Iraq to ensure that Daesh cannot re-emerge. Since the 2020-2021 Financial Year, approximately £6million of Official Development Assistance has been utilised to support Countering Violent Extremism activities in Iraq. This includes approximately £70,000 in 2020-21, £1,288,808 in 2021-2022, £2,340,550 in 2022-2023 and just over £2,331,889 in 2023-2024.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance funding has been spent on countering extremism in Lebanon in each of the last five years..
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK plays a leading role in countering terrorism and violent extremism overseas. Lebanon is one of our key CT partners in the Middle East and over the last five years, HMG has spent over £12 million on countering violent extremism in Lebanon. This breaks down to £2,245,000 in FY 24/25; £1,782,421 in FY 23/24; £1,685,998 in FY 22/23; £2,864,343 in FY 21/22 and £4,074,261 in FY 20/21, across the Integrated Security Fund (ISF) and Counter Terrorism Programme Fund (CTPF).
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will release a full impact assessment for the reduction in Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including impact assessments.