Somalia

Jane Ellison Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth]

I absolutely agree, and I hope that the use of children in these conflicts will be explicitly referred to in any communiqué resulting from the conference.

[Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)]

I understand that Somalia has not ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child. Perhaps the Minister might comment on that later, but such ratification would achieve the same end.

[Jonathan Ashworth]

The hon. Lady makes a good point and she is quite right. I hope that the Minister listened to both those interventions and will comment on them.

I wish to make a few points about refugees. We know that 1 million Somalis have sought international protection in the region, many of whom are residing in Kenya. To pick up on a point made by the hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart), the camp at Dadaab was initially designed for 90,000 refugees but it now holds about 440,000 registered refugees, as well as a number of unregistered refugees. I hope that the conference will discuss how to ensure that refugees are registered as quickly as possible. In coming up with any solution that deals with mass displacement, we need to consider the role of the Kenyan and Ethiopian Governments. I particularly hope that the Kenyan Government will ensure that Somalis who seek refuge in Kenya are not prevented from doing so, and I would be interested to know whether the Foreign Secretary is making representations to the Kenyan Government on that matter.

The hon. Member for Cheltenham and my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) spoke about economic development and building resilience in Somalia. That must be a central objective of the international community. As we know, Oxfam and Save the Children have said that the world did not respond fast enough to the crisis, although I pay tribute to the work done by DFID. We knew that the warning signals were there; we knew that the rains had failed and that commodity prices were escalating; and we all knew of the lethal consequences of the political instability in that part of the world. Instead of reacting when it is too late, we have to do more to address the underlying issues and to support investment in local food production, sustainable livestock production and agriculture as we try to build political stability in Somalia.

I hope that the conference also considers climate change, because in the conversation about that we do not always think about Somalia and the horn of Africa, because other parts of the world take more of our attention. We know why the short rains failed, but emerging scientific thinking suggests that the long rains failed and will continue to fail as a result of climate change. We need to examine and discuss that, and I hope that the conference will have a chance to start deliberating on the issue. If climate change is also affecting that part of the world and its long rains, we will need to do more to invest in better irrigation systems and we will need a strategy to deal with the problem.

I represent a significant Somali community in Leicester, one that has settled in Leicester from all over Somalia and Somaliland; some members of the community like to refer to themselves as “mini Somalia”. It has much expertise, and much good sense is talked by many of those in Leicester’s Somali community, many of whom attended the conference yesterday. The Somali community in Leicester recently raised funds to send an ambulance to Mogadishu in the next few weeks. People in the community tell me that they want this conference to succeed, but they are weary from having seen too many conferences and initiatives fail in the past. They want the international community to do what it can to help foster a solution, but they are well aware that any solution has to be Somali-led. Crucially, they want the Foreign Office to continue to engage with them, not only in the run-up to this next conference, as happened in respect of yesterday’s very successful event, but beyond. I am sure that I speak for many in the Somali community on the St Matthew’s estate in my constituency when I invite the Foreign Secretary, the International Development Secretary or the Minister for Africa to come to that estate. They would get some very good coffee and some very fine food, and such a visit would send a very good signal as to how the Foreign Office, or perhaps DFID, is engaging with the Somali community in Leicester.

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[Seema Malhotra]

I totally support the hon. Gentleman’s comment.

[Jane Ellison]

When those mechanisms are established, can we make it clear that we want to engage both men and women from the community? Too often when we talk about community engagement, we do not mean men and women equally.

[Seema Malhotra]

The hon. Lady will probably be aware of my commitment to the engagement of women in all aspects of political and public life, and I totally concur with her comments.

On the situation of Somaliland, I simply want to add to comments made so eloquently by Members on both sides of the House. Somaliland will be represented in its own right at the conference. Will the Government continue to acknowledge the separate and successful development achieved by Somalilanders, who have turned Somaliland into a beacon of democracy in Africa? There is a fear among Somalilanders that Somaliland could be dragged into the quagmire of the south-central region. We want a secure and democratic south and the continuation of a secure and democratic Somaliland, so that Somalis can together decide their future.

Finally, will the Minister further highlight developing systems and livelihoods, which is one of the themes of the conference? I extend that request to the powerful comments made on economic development by the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) and my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth). To what extent will access to education and jobs be part of the agenda at the conference? How can we help to develop an environment in which young Somali men, who might otherwise be more vulnerable and who might be drawn into terrorism, have an alternative and a new hope for themselves and their families? Creating an alternative life so that the next generation can live peacefully would surely be a tremendous legacy for the conference, and one of which we would all be proud. I am grateful to the House to have had the opportunity to make this contribution.

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[Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)]

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate, and I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). I echo the sentiment expressed in his final comments. One of the saddest pieces of casework that I have had to undertake in my short time as a Member of Parliament was to try to help a constituent to find out whether his family were dead or alive; it was extremely sad. The hon. Gentleman has also rightly urged us to dwell on the positive contribution of the Somali community in this country. I have a large Somali community in my constituency, and I strongly echo the positive comments that have been made about the contribution of such communities. Unfortunately, I must focus on a negative issue. It is in part a health issue, and it has not thus far been raised.

As some Members may be aware, Monday was international day of zero tolerance to female genital mutilation. About 140 million women worldwide have undergone FGM, and it is estimated that each year a further 3 million girls in Africa are at risk of the practice. Somalia has one of the highest prevalence rates. According to a 2006 UNICEF study, as many as 98% of all Somali girls undergo it. Although there are signs of progress in some parts of the country, the vast majority of girls undergo what is a brutal practice that has no health benefits and leaves irreparable long-term damage. I particularly want to raise this topic now because Puntland will be represented at the forthcoming conference and its Government are seeking to pass legislation that would enshrine FGM in law. We must try to stop this very bad law being passed.

I understand from local campaigners on the ground working against this practice that the original aim of the legislation, which is referred to as the circumcision law, was to outlaw all forms of FGM. It has since been diluted by some Puntland politicians so that it now allows for—indeed, legislates for—a less extreme, but still invasive and serious, form of this very harmful practice to girls and women. The law even offers indemnity to parents who force FGM on their daughters, and it promises that no action will be taken if the procedure goes wrong.

The President of Puntland, President Farole, has yet to assent to the proposed circumcision law. I believe that he was the original proponent of the law to outlaw the practice completely. The new, changed law seeks to criminalise the worst, most severe kind of FGM—infibulation, which is sometimes known as pharaonic circumcision. However, it would also make legal type 1 FGM, which is, in effect, a clitoradectomy—I apologise for the necessarily graphic language—and which in Somali is called “sunna”.

I welcome, of course, any moves to make the most extreme forms of mutilation illegal, but to enshrine in law a measure that makes it possible to do type 1 FGM on little girls is deeply regrettable, as that would both normalise and medicalise what is a serious human rights abuse—it is recognised as such by the World Health Organisation—potentially on a massive scale. It would also undermine the efforts of DFID and local and international NGOs working in Puntland and across Somalia to eliminate this practice. Worst of all, it would undermine the astonishing and brave work of local women, in particular campaigners going from village to village to get the cutters to put down their knives and to change hearts and minds. This law must not be passed, as that would undermine all the good work that is being done.

The ratification of this law would send the wrong message to the rest of Somalia and the wider region, where there are some signs of progress. It would also undermine efforts here in the UK. FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, and in 2003 a loophole allowing families to take girls abroad to have them cut was closed. However, there are close links between the homeland and the diaspora community, and if this law in Puntland were passed it would send a strong negative signal to women here and elsewhere in the diaspora. That, in turn, would make the job of eliminating FGM in the UK—which is, in fact, on the rise—much harder. No one should doubt that it is on the rise. Earlier this week, I spoke at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conference specifically on this matter, so great is the problem now being presented in maternity departments and specialist units around the country.

We should back the Puntland President’s original opposition to all types of FGM. He issued the presidential decree in November 2011, and I hope we can support that stance. Our Government in general, and DFID in particular, have been excellent at focusing on the prevention of violence against women and girls in their international strategy. This is an uphill struggle, but it would be made much harder if this law were passed.

We are a major supplier of aid to Somalia, and, like all who have spoken today, I strongly support that. DFID has placed the health, well-being and education of women at the heart of its overseas aid programme. I am pleased to say that tackling FGM is specifically mentioned as a “gender priority” in its strategy on Somalia. However, I fear that that aspect of its work would be hugely undermined if this proposal were adopted. I urge Ministers to use meetings at the imminent conference as opportunities to raise the issue with Somali and Puntland representatives, to put it on the agenda for discussion, and to register their concerns.

Like every other Member, I want the conference to go well—that is enormously important to members of my local community—but eradicating FGM around the world and here in the UK is a tough enough task already, and it would be made more difficult if this law were ratified. I urge Ministers to put the human rights of girls and women firmly on the conference’s agenda.