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 the UK's position is at the UN in relation to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir; and whether the Government opposes the removal of article 370 and 35A by the Indian Government within that region.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
As the Foreign Secretary said in his Statement to the House on 3 September, we are deeply concerned about the situation in Kashmir. We want to see a reduction in tensions in Kashmir, respect for internationally recognised human rights and steps taken on all sides to rebuild confidence. The situation in Kashmir was discussed in the UN Security Council on 16 August and the UK continues to call for restraint and action to address current concerns, and welcome efforts to do so as soon as possible. The UK's longstanding position on Kashmir is that it is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
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 representations his Department has received on the welfare of Uigher Muslims being held in internment camps in China.
Answered by Mark Field
We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the Chinese Government’s deepening crackdown; including credible reports that over 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been held in re-education camps, and reports of widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities. Visits to Xinjiang by diplomats from the British Embassy in Beijing have corroborated much of this open source reporting.
Ministers and senior officials have been raising our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities for some time, and will continue to do so. At the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council which ran from February to March 2019, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about Xinjiang during his opening address (on 25 February). The UK also raised concerns about Xinjiang during our item 4 statement on 12 March, and we co-sponsored a side event on “Protecting the fundamental freedoms in Xinjiang” on 13 March.
I raised our concerns about Xinjiang with Vice Minister Guo Yezhou during my visit to China on 22 July 2018. The Foreign Secretary also raised our concerns about the region with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to China on 30 July 2018.
During China’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 6 November 2018, the UK made a statement which described our concerns about the treatment of ethnic minorities in China, including Uyghurs.
Following the Universal Periodic Review, Lord Ahmad issued a statement where he said: “I am very concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the re-education camps and the widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities, particularly the Uyghurs. The UK and many of our international partners have made clear during China’s UPR that this is a priority issue. We recommended that China should implement CERD recommendations in Xinjiang and allow the UN to monitor implementation.”
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 information his Department holds on whether Uighur Muslims in Chinese camps have been denied their basic human rights.
Answered by Mark Field
We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the Chinese Government’s deepening crackdown; including credible reports that over 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been held in re-education camps, and reports of widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities. Visits to Xinjiang by diplomats from the British Embassy in Beijing have corroborated much of this open source reporting.
Ministers and senior officials have been raising our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities for some time, and will continue to do so. At the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council which ran from February to March 2019, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about Xinjiang during his opening address (on 25 February). The UK also raised concerns about Xinjiang during our item 4 statement on 12 March, and we co-sponsored a side event on “Protecting the fundamental freedoms in Xinjiang” on 13 March.
I raised our concerns about Xinjiang with Vice Minister Guo Yezhou during my visit to China on 22 July 2018. The Foreign Secretary also raised our concerns about the region with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to China on 30 July 2018.
During China’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 6 November 2018, the UK made a statement which described our concerns about the treatment of ethnic minorities in China, including Uyghurs.
Following the Universal Periodic Review, Lord Ahmad issued a statement where he said: “I am very concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the re-education camps and the widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities, particularly the Uyghurs. The UK and many of our international partners have made clear during China’s UPR that this is a priority issue. We recommended that China should implement CERD recommendations in Xinjiang and allow the UN to monitor implementation.”
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 recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the evacuation of civilians from eastern Aleppo since 14 December 2016.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
On 19 December, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2328, which demands full access for the UN across Syria. The Resolution specifically requested the UN to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo. The UK strongly supported this action in view of our profound concerns at reports of atrocities taking place as eastern Aleppo was being evacuated. The UN has now reported that evacuations from eastern Aleppo are complete. It remains essential that the regime and its backers allow the UN full and unhindered access across the whole of Syria.
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 steps he is taking to ensure that people who have violated international humanitarian law in Syria will be brought to justice in the international courts.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has a long-standing commitment to accountability, and believes that those responsible for war crimes in Syria - as elsewhere - must be held accountable.
The UK continues to make the case for referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In May 2014, the UK co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution to refer all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, regardless of affiliation, to the ICC. Russia and China chose to veto this resolution. Russia has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the conflict began.
In support of a future process of justice, we have trained and equipped people in Syria to collect evidence of atrocities. We hope that this process, approximating to ICC standards, may form an important part of a future process to hold those responsible to account.
We have made clear our strong support for the work of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry. As a result of UK diplomacy through the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Commission of Inquiry is carrying out an investigation into events in Aleppo to ensure those responsible for human rights violations and abuses are held to account.
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 representations the Government is making to the government of Indian on the Indian Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 and scrutiny of Indian military intervention in Kashmir.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government has not made any recent representations to the Government of India on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) or on Indian military intervention in Kashmir. We are aware of the concerns regarding allegations of immunity from prosecution for Indian armed forces personnel under the AFSPA. We continue to follow developments on this issue. The Indian Government have an established mechanism though which people can request that cases of concern be investigated. In November 2015, Indian Prime Minister Modi assured the former Prime Minister, my Rt hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) of his commitment to and respect for India’s core values of tolerance and freedom.
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 recent representations he has made to the Indian government on civilians killed and injured in Kashmir since the death of Burhan Wani.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I was deeply saddened by reports of unrest in Kashmir earlier this month and offer my condolences to the victims and their families. Our High Commission in Delhi is monitoring the situation closely and we have updated our travel advice. We have not made any representations to the government of India on this issue.
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 recent representations he has made to the Indian government to ensure the welfare and safe return of British citizens affected by the curfew in Kashmir.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Our High Commission in Delhi is monitoring the situation closely. We have updated our travel advice and encourage British nationals in Kashmir to monitor it. We have not made any representations to the government of India on this issue.
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 people made contact with the Forced Marriage Unit in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Forced Marriage Unit is a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office Unit which was set up in January 2005 to lead on the Government's forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Statistics on the number of enquiries and cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit via its public helpline and email inbox in 2013, 2014 and 2015 are published online here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage-collected-by-fmu