Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lyn Brown and Mark Simmonds

Tuesday 3rd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

13. What recent discussions he has had on the threat from terrorist groups, organised crime and piracy in west Africa.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)]

We take the threat of criminal and terrorist groups in west Africa seriously. Officials and Ministers have had a significant number of productive discussions with west African Governments, including the Foreign Secretary and me meeting the Nigerian President’s special envoy and my own visit to Ghana in July, where I met the President and the Ghanaian Foreign Minister.

[Lyn Brown]

I pay tribute to the success of the British contribution to the international effort to suppress piracy off the west coast of Somalia. What specific assistance will the UK provide to deal with the growing problems of piracy in west Africa?

[Mark Simmonds]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising these very important issues. There are clear differences between the piracy off the east coast of Africa and the west coast of Africa. I have offered to the relevant west African Governments our experiences and those of the international community, and we are helpful where we can be. Only yesterday, I discussed with the Cameroonian Foreign Minister the implementation of the agreement that was set out in Yaoundé between the 13 Heads of State from west and central Africa exactly to address the problems of maritime insecurity off the west African coast.