Oral Answers to Questions

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Ind)]

1. What assessment he has made of the effect of the US Administration's decision to withdraw support for Kurdish forces on regional stability.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

15. What recent assessment he has made of conditions for civilians in Syria.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

19. What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the feasibility of implementing a no-fly zone over northern Syria.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Gentleman; he has followed this subject for a long period and has experience and insight. We are worried, and our main concerns are around the humanitarian situation and the stability of northern Syria. Notwithstanding the removal of Daesh leader al-Baghdadi, which we welcome, we are worried about the medium-term impact on counter-Daesh strategy in the region. So while we welcome the ceasefire brokered by Vice-President Mike Pence in relation to northern Syria, we are also seeing an accommodation between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian regime and indeed Presidents Erdoğan and Putin, and that is counter both to our counter-terrorism efforts but also to the humanitarian plight that the hon. Gentleman rightly raises.

[Kerry McCarthy]

May I add my congratulations to you, Mr Speaker?

Save the Children has identified around 60 British children who are stranded in north-east Syria. The Government have said that we owe them a duty of care. No matter what their parents may have done, these are innocent children, and some are now malnourished and some are suffering from life-threatening illnesses. What are the Government doing to ensure that those British children are repatriated?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady is right to say that the first responsibility is of course with any parent or prospective parent who would take their children out to a conflict zone. We have made it clear that we are willing to repatriate unaccompanied UK minors or orphans where is no risk to UK security. We would consider carefully individual requests for consular support more generally and subject to national security considerations, but of course the UK has no consular presence in Syria from which to provide assistance, and that makes it very difficult to help, but we respond on a case-by-case basis.