Humanitarian Crisis: Greece

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 2nd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I agree very strongly with my hon. Friend. By pursuing the UK aid strategy of doing the right thing by some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world, we also do the right thing by ourselves. Perhaps the worst long-term challenge of the many facing Syria is that many of its best and brightest are leaving the region. The more we can help people to stay close to home and close to their families, the more we prepare for Syria to have the people it needs to help it get back on its feet. As it stands that prospect seems a long way off, but that does not mean we should not try to do our best to achieve it.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

The hon. Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald) and I were told last Thursday by Europol that 90% of the migrants who enter the EU do so because they are supported by organised criminal gangs. When will we get a statement from Ministers to tell us that there is success against the organised criminal gangs that are doing so much damage to the people of Europe? When is Turkey going to get the €3 billion we promised it to help it to deal with this crisis?

[Justine Greening]

The right hon. Gentleman will see that on the Treasury Bench with me is the Minister for Immigration, my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (James Brokenshire), who I am sure will respond to his point on progress in tackling organised criminal gangs. Our National Crime Agency works very closely with Europol. He will be aware that we also played our role in saving lives in the Mediterranean with Royal Navy and Border Force cutters. The €3 billion has now been agreed. In fact, we managed to agree it in time for the London conference, which again was a step forward. The key is making sure that it is delivered and that the strategy behind how it is invested is strong. That needs to involve not just the day-to-day support for refugees whom Turkey is very generously hosting—we should remember that Turkey has taken in 2 million refugees—but getting children back into school and progress on effective border control. The package now in place needs to be very carefully delivered not only by the EU, but by Turkey itself in terms of how it uses that investment.

Syria Crisis: UK Response

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The sort of step forward that we saw last Thursday—the commitment that no child will be lost to the Syrian crisis, and that all children will be back in school—is absolutely critical. If we want them ever to feel that they are in a position to rebuild their own country, they will need at least to be able to read and write, and to have had some sort of education. Too many children have already lost too many days in school, but after last Thursday we have a much better chance of getting them back into the classroom and back learning. That is precisely what we are hoping to do over the next few weeks and months.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

May I join other Members in commending the Secretary of State for the success of the donor conference but remind her that, as with the Yemen donor conference six years ago, it is not the pledges but the paying of the money that matters? In that case, only 10% has been paid so far. The key local country is Turkey, to which the EU has pledged €3 billion to deal with this crisis. Has that money been paid at least in part, and can she reassure the House that recent developments are not affecting the processing of the 19,000 Syrian refugees whom the Prime Minister has pledged will come to this county before the next election?

[Justine Greening]

The €3 billion deal was very much reached as part of the Syria conference last Thursday. Like the right hon. Gentleman, I will be very keen to make sure that all the commitments made last Thursday are delivered. That is vital if we are to achieve the results we have set ourselves, including the ambition to make sure that no Syrian refugee child is out of school by the end of the forthcoming academic year. More broadly, he should be reassured that the UK will continue to play a role in ensuring not only that we do a lot in our response to this crisis—we have already done so: we are the second biggest bilateral donor to date—but that we continue to shape the response.

Humanitarian Aid: Refugees in Greece and the Balkans

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Tuesday 3rd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, the cost that many European countries now face to support refugees who felt that they had no choice but to set off on a life-or-death journey is immense. That money would have been spent far more effectively, produced far greater value for money and enabled support to get to many more people had it been put directly into the UN effort on the ground, working with generous countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, which have taken so many refugees. If we had worked with those countries more effectively, many of the refugees—I have met many of them in my visits to the region over the past few years—would have done what they had wanted to do, which was to stay there in the hope that, in time, they could rebuild their lives and go back to Syria.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is right to be robust on criminality, but the only organisation that can deal with it on a pan-European basis is Europol. Why are we not giving more resources to Europol to deal with this problem? In the spirit of openness and transparency, will she tell the House today how many Syrian refugees have arrived in the UK following the Prime Minister’s pledge? That is a very simple question that has not been answered. It would be good to reveal that information to the House.

[Justine Greening]

We have been clear that we will not give a running commentary on how many refugees have been resettled here, not least because they need to receive support and treatment and to get on with their new lives here without the glare of the media upon them. I will ensure that Home Office Ministers write to the right hon. Gentleman with further details on his point about Europol.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 8th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

As ever, my hon. Friend makes his point very eloquently. I can assure him that my Department is probably the most scrutinised of any in government. We have the Select Committee on International Development, the aid watchdog and the Public Accounts Committee. I can assure him we are rising to that challenge.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

One of the best criteria for value for money projects is to stop the flow—[Interruption.]

[Keith Vaz]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. One of the best criteria for value for money for our projects is to stem the humanitarian crisis occurring in the Mediterranean. Last week, I visited a camp outside Rome station where I met a number of migrants. If they had been provided with jobs and economic development in north Africa, they would not have travelled. Will she please make that one of the criteria?

[Justine Greening]

The right hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear that just a few days ago I announced additional support that includes in Africa creating additional jobs and livelihoods. As he sets out, many of these migrants are in search of better economic opportunities. If they cannot find them where they are growing up they will look for them elsewhere. We should be very aware of that and work to tackle it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend will know that this is an international problem that requires an international co-ordinated solution, not least from the EU, and the UK is part of that. Getting a stable Government in Libya is a crucial part of how we can start to clamp down on the traffickers who trade in human misery, and I assure him that both DFID and the Foreign Office are a part of that work.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Keith Vaz]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. [Hon. Members: “Wrong choice!”] You made the right choice.

The hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) is right, in that 92% of the 170,000 who have travelled from north Africa to Italy came through Libya. The Khartoum process is clearly not working, and the humanitarian crisis starts in north Africa, goes to Italy and will end in Calais. What further steps can we take to help the people of north Africa?

[Justine Greening]

There are several steps, one being immediately to make sure that the Khartoum process does deliver. It is crucial because it brings together destination countries, transit countries and countries of origin to work more collaboratively. The other key thing is to work upstream, as the situation shows that we cannot simply assume that countries that are not developing and do not have prospects for their young people will deal with the problem. People see the better lives being led in countries such as ours and want to have the same thing for themselves. In the long term, the only real solution is development.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 17th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that we need to learn some lessons from how the WHO and the international community has responded to the crisis. Speed was of the essence, so I think there are lots of lessons to be learned. I had a chance to meet some of the amazing UK personnel working on our behalf, including some fantastic NHS health workers who are out there providing front-line care.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

May I commend the Government for what they have done so far? How much of the money spent was directed towards projects to do with health awareness as opposed to dealing with the after-effects of Ebola?

[Justine Greening]

We have a several million pound programme that is focused particularly on so-called social mobilisation. It is about training community workers to go out into communities and talk to people about how they can take practical steps themselves to reduce the risk of catching Ebola. Of course, the work we are doing in putting in place safe burial teams, which are now burying 100% of bodies safely in the main western area zone and 95% across the country, is one of the key ways in which we can stop the infection from spreading further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We are doing a significant amount of work in Commonwealth countries and indeed through the Commonwealth. In recent weeks, of course, we have seen some challenges to stability in northern Nigeria, and most of our work in the country is focused on the north. We are one of the few donors delivering education—in the long term, of course, one of the best ways of achieving stability.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

Yemen is a fragile state that faces daily attacks from al-Qaeda on the south Arabian peninsula. What support is the Government providing to help it to build up its institutions?

Afghanistan

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I agree with that. When the Taliban were in power almost no girls were going to school, whereas now more than 2 million of the 6 million-plus children at school are girls. That is crucial, but, as we see, it continues to be a challenge to make sure that we get equal opportunities for both boys and girls in Afghanistan. That is why our education programmes particularly focus on getting girls into school.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

Twenty Afghan interpreters have died while serving with British troops and 3% feel they are going to be unsafe if they remain in Afghanistan after the troops withdraw. How many have applied to come here since the Secretary of State’s last statement? How many have been given permission to do so? How many have been refused?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We have a range of programmes to help improve livelihoods. Most recently, when my right hon. Friend the Minister of State visited Bangladesh, he announced an £18 million UK-funded programme to help people, particularly factory workers, to develop skills. We are taking a range of measures. I should add that we also work with international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation to improve workers’ standards and drive workers’ conditions upwards.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

As the Secretary of State may know, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh was in London last week. I discussed with her the high level of diabetes in Bangladesh, which has one of the highest levels of any country in the world. What health projects do we have in Bangladesh specifically to help to reduce diabetes?

[Justine Greening]

I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s question. DFID has health programmes and general programmes to lift people out of poverty, but also to ensure that they have access to services like health care that can help them get on with their day-to-day lives. I will write to him with a fuller update on whether we engage in any direct diabetes-related programmes, which I hope will be helpful to him.

Syria (Humanitarian Response)

Debate between Keith Vaz and Justine Greening

Monday 4th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the work that she has done in this regard. There are 150,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey. So far, 23,500 have claimed asylum in the EU, mostly crossing the border between Greece and Turkey, and that is the pressure point as far as the EU is concerned. She mentioned many countries in her statement, but what support is being given to the Greek Government to help them to deal with this problem, which will eventually become a problem for the United Kingdom?

[Justine Greening]

I will need to write to the right hon. Gentleman to give him further details on that. He is right to point out that a number of countries in the EU have taken in Syrian refugees, including Sweden, which has a substantial Syrian diaspora. We need to make sure that we deal with the totality of this humanitarian crisis, and that involves making sure that when refugees end up in the EU we provide the support they need.