Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether aid is needed by Sudan following reports by the UN predicting extreme hunger in that country over the coming months.
Answered by Vicky Ford
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made recent representations to the Taliban to uphold international human rights standards.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
FCDO officials continue to regularly raise human rights in their meetings with the Taliban including during visits by senior officials to Kabul in October 2021 and February 2022, and in other meetings with Taliban leaders. We are pressing them on key issues, including to ensure that women play a full, equal role in national life, girls of all ages can go to school, there is freedom of expression and rights of members of ethnic and religious minorities are respected.
The Foreign Secretary and other Ministers raise the importance of upholding human rights in Afghanistan in international fora. The UK Government made clear our condemnation of the Taliban's 23 March decision not to re-open girls secondary schools, including through statements from the G7+, women foreign ministers and the UN Security Council. The Foreign Secretary raised the importance of upholding human rights, including the rights of women and girls and ethnic and religious minorities, in her speech at the Afghanistan pledging conference that the UK co-hosted on 31 March.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in Belarus on that country’s relationship with Russia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in Finland and Sweden regarding each of those countries' prospective applications for NATO membership.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government engages regularly with Finland and Sweden, including on security issues. The UK fully supports Sweden and Finland's relationships with NATO as Enhanced Opportunities Partners (EOP) and we also cooperate through the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force. As two of only six EOP countries, Sweden and Finland make significant contributions to NATO operations and have enhanced opportunities for dialogue and cooperation with Allies. Any application for NATO membership must be a decision taken by Sweden or Finland alone. The UK will continue to support and respect Finnish and Swedish decisions related to their own security policy.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations she has made to the International Criminal Court on ensuring that President Putin and his regime are held to account for any war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We have led efforts to refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has now secured the support of over 40 other countries. The UK will provide assistance to the ICC to support its Ukraine investigations, including an additional £1 million contribution. We have mobilised UK expertise, including through deployments of specialist UK expertise such as the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts, to support Ukraine's domestic investigations into war crimes and to recommend how the UK can further add value to the response.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart on New Delhi’s neutral stance on the war in Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is working with international partners, including India, to coordinate the international response to Russia's unlawful invasion of Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary visited India on 31 March where she discussed with India's Minister for External Affairs the importance of democracies working closer together to deter aggressors, reduce vulnerability to coercion and strengthen global security. The Prime Minister also visited India on 21-22 April where he discussed the issue with Prime Minister Modi. The two leaders released a statement after their meeting unequivocally condemning civilian deaths, and reiterating the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of imposing further sanctions on (a) Russia and (b) Russian allies as a result of the continued conflict in Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK does not speculate on future sanctions. However, we will continue to increase pressure on Putin and his regime to ensure he is unable to fuel his war machine. In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine we have announced an unprecedented package of sanctions. We have now sanctioned over 1500 individuals and entities since the invasion. We have also implemented sanctions against Belarusian individuals and organisations in response to the role the country is playing in Russia's invasion, including facilitating the invasion from within its borders.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) increase security, (b) help prevent Russian interference and (c) support refugees in (i) Moldova and (ii) other neighbouring countries that share a border with an active war zone.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has worked closely with partners in the region to increase regional security, support refugees and prevent Russian interference.
We are supporting defence sector reform in Moldova, including through the NATO Defence Capacity Building Initiative. The UK is doubling the number of defence personnel in Estonia and sending additional military equipment. The Prime Minister also agreed with his Polish counterpart a programme to ensure our current cooperation on European security is broadened and strengthened for the years and decades to come.
On 26 March, the UK announced £25 million in funding to the UN Refugee Agency and £10 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross to support countries neighbouring Ukraine to receive and care for refugees. Our humanitarian field teams in the region provide logistical support and advice and coordinate with governments and the UN in neighbouring countries. UK support will reach over 140,000 refugees in the region, providing protection, shelter and cash for the most vulnerable groups and for people with specific needs.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recent discovery of mass graves in Syria; and what assessment she has made of whether those graves amount to further evidence of war crimes committed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime during the civil war in that country.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reports of mass graves in Syria are concerning and in line with what we know about Asad's repressive regime. Since 2011, Asad's regime, with backing from its allies, has deliberately undermined the pursuit of peace, committed war crimes and caused untold suffering for Syrians. That is why the Government supports efforts to pursue accountability for the most serious crimes committed in Syria, including through the UN Commission of Inquiry and the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism with which we signed an MoU in March this year. These bodies were established with the express purpose of inquiring into and investigating potential war crimes. We praise those in Syria who bring the crimes of the Asad regime to light.
Through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) programming, the UK provides funding to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to train first responders in Syria to safeguard forensic evidence at mass graves. We also use our position in the UNSC and leadership of Syria resolutions at the UNHRC to draw international attention to the human rights violations and abuses in Syria; we will continue to call for those violating international humanitarian law to be held accountable for their crimes.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British nationals remain in Afghanistan as of 23 February 2022; and what plans her Department has to assist with repatriation efforts.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
It remains very difficult to give an exact figure of how many British nationals remain in Afghanistan. The situation is fluid with numbers of British nationals entering and leaving all the time. Some British nationals have chosen to remain in Afghanistan. We encourage all British nationals in Afghanistan to sign up to and check FCDO Travel Advice updates and confirm their presence on the online registration system. British nationals can continue to access remote consular assistance on a 24/7 basis.
The FCDO has assisted British Nationals to leave Afghanistan when safe options are available such as Qatar Government sponsored charter flights.
British nationals who are in possession of valid passports, and their immediate Afghan family dependants (spouse and children under 18) who hold valid UK visas, or UK residency permits, are eligible to travel on Qatari Government chartered flights from Kabul to Doha.
FCDO Travel Advice notes other commercial flight options are available to regional capitals and encourages people to check safety notices published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).