Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will support transparent, accountable justice for survivors of sexual violence in Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence. We have consistently called for an end to the appalling violations and abuses of human rights, including sexual violence, committed by all sides to the conflict in northern Ethiopia, and for the perpetrators of these acts to be held to account and support for victims. We therefore welcome the recent the agreement to implement a comprehensive national transitional justice policy aimed at accountability, redress for victims, reconciliation, and healing.
We continue to support the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE). We will work with the Ethiopian Government and civil society in their efforts to hold perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to account, including building the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission through the UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme (HARP).
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of civilians killed in the Ethiopian and Eritrean offensive in the Tigray region of Ethiopia launched on 1 September 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Information on casualties from the conflict in northern Ethiopia is scarce. Since the resumption of fighting on 24 August it is likely that there have been thousands of casualties.
The UK welcomes the agreements signed between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on 2 November and 12 November. They provide for an end to two years of brutal conflict in northern Ethiopia. The UK calls upon the Eritrean Government to support the agreement by withdrawing its troops from Ethiopia.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to co-operate with European countries to ensure that aid is being provided to Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK and European partners are working closely on providing aid to Ukraine; military equipment, cyber resilience, humanitarian and economic support and energy resilience. As part of our response, we have deployed UK humanitarian experts to Poland, Romania and Moldova. On energy, the UK has provided €54.3 million in guarantees that has unlocked a total of €97.3 million of EBRD financing the Ukrainian electricity transmission system operator, Ukrenergo. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are in regular contact with their European counterparts, including at UNGA, G7 and G20 meetings and at the European Political Community Summit where leaders agreed on the importance of UK-EU cooperation to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much aid the UK provided to Pakistan for flooding recovery in 2010.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Pakistan as it faces the consequences of the recent devastating flooding. The UK Government provided significant support to Pakistan in response to the 2010 crisis, providing £81 million in humanitarian assistance. While the scale of the recent flooding is greater than 2010, Pakistan is better prepared and more capable in responding to complex emergencies than it was previously.
Overall, since 2010, the UK has provided £342 million in humanitarian assistance to Pakistan supporting over 8 million people following natural disasters and conflict through water and sanitation; livelihoods support; protection mechanisms and shelter.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much aid the UK has provided to Pakistan for flood recovery since 2010.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Pakistan as it faces the consequences of the recent devastating flooding. The UK Government provided significant support to Pakistan in response to the 2010 crisis, providing £81 million in humanitarian assistance. While the scale of the recent flooding is greater than 2010, Pakistan is better prepared and more capable in responding to complex emergencies than it was previously.
Overall, since 2010, the UK has provided £342 million in humanitarian assistance to Pakistan supporting over 8 million people following natural disasters and conflict through water and sanitation; livelihoods support; protection mechanisms and shelter.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has received recent representations on nuclear theft in India; and if he will make a statement on the implications for his policies of nuclear theft.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary has not received recent representations on nuclear theft in India. The UK discusses nuclear issues, including nuclear security, with India at an annual senior official dialogue. Working level engagement on nuclear security takes place through a UK-India Joint Working Group.
The UK remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear security at home and around the world. We strongly support the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) role in coordinating global efforts and assisting Member States implement effective nuclear security. We are a leading contributor to the IAEA's Nuclear Security Fund (NSF), which helps Member States to enhance their security.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what aid and support the Government is providing to India during their latest outbreak of covid-19 cases.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We stand side by side with India as a friend and partner in the fight against COVID-19, and send our solidarity and condolences to the Indian people at this difficult time. Working closely with the Indian Government, the UK has put together a package focusing on India's most urgent needs, including oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and oxygen generating units. The first shipment was delivered on 27 April. On 2 May, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would send a further 1,000 ventilators to support India's response, these arrived in Delhi on 9 May bringing the total package of equipment to 495 oxygen concentrators, 1,200 ventilators and three oxygen generating units.
There is also extensive scientific and medical collaboration underway. Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance have spoken to their Indian counterparts to provide advice, insight and expertise to the Indian healthcare system as it deals with the surge in Covid-19 cases. NHS England and NHS Improvement are establishing a clinic advisory group, led by Chief People Officer Prerana Issar, to support India's Covid-19 response.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he made an assessment of the human rights record of the government of Rwanda before agreeing to attend the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting with Rwanda.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Commonwealth places a high priority on being a community of peaceful, democratic countries which promote and protect shared values, including the rule of law and human rights. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) - of which the UK is a current member, is the custodian of these fundamental values.
Rwanda has made huge strides over the past two decades. It has a strong track record of equality of women in Rwanda's cabinet and parliament, and there have been significant improvements in healthcare, reconciliation, development and prosperity. However, the UK remains concerned by Rwanda's overall human rights record and regularly raises specific cases of concern with the Rwandan Government. We continue to encourage Rwanda to model Commonwealth values of respect for human rights and rule of law as enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter, and to match its impressive development progress with gains in civil and political rights.
Rwanda was selected at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 (CHOGM18) as the host of the 26th CHOGM. The summit, re-scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2021 presents a valuable opportunity for Heads to meet and for the Commonwealth family to demonstrate how, by upholding and promoting the principles of the Commonwealth, a bright common future can be built for all. The UK plans to attend in our capacity as Chair-in-Office.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports of (a) arrests of political leaders, (b) arrests of residents and (c) internet restrictions in Indian administered Kashmir; and what representations he has made to his Indian counterpart on those reports.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir closely. We welcome reports that some restrictions have been relaxed and some of the detained have been released. However, we remain concerned at the ongoing detentions and continued restrictions in some areas. We call for these to be lifted as soon as possible and we have raised our concerns with the Indian Government. Most recently, Lord Ahmad, the Minister for South Asia, discussed the situation in Kashmir and our concerns with Indian Minister of State for External and Parliamentary Affairs Mr Muraleedharan and, separately, the Indian High Commissioner. The British High Commission in New Delhi also regularly raise our concerns with the Indian Government at senior levels.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) employs around 13,000 staff, around 5,000 of whom are UK-based and 8,000 local staff. The FCO only holds diversity data centrally for UK-based staff. According to March 2019 data from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES), available publicly online, 4.5 per cent of UK-based FCO staff identified as Muslim, excluding Wilton Park and FCO Services staff. This 4.5 per cent figure does not include 'do not wish to declare' responses. According the ACSES survey, the FCO's reporting rate for religion or belief was 65.3 per cent in March 2019, excluding both blank and 'do not wish to declare' responses.