Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices of Israel Defence Forces reports of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s storage of weapons within civilian and religious sites in Jenin; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is actively monitoring the security situation in Jenin. We unequivocally condemn the use and possession of indiscriminate weapons by militant groups in Jenin. The UK has proscribed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease their campaign of violence, for which there is no justification. Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and escalates already high tensions, with consequences for the international community. The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's security jurisdiction in area 'A' of the West Bank, as agreed through the Oslo Accords. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussion with his counterparts at the Palestinian Authority on Israel Defence Force's reports of 300 Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen in Jenin.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is actively monitoring the security situation in Jenin. We unequivocally condemn the use and possession of indiscriminate weapons by militant groups in Jenin. The UK has proscribed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease their campaign of violence, for which there is no justification. Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and escalates already high tensions, with consequences for the international community. The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's security jurisdiction in area 'A' of the West Bank, as agreed through the Oslo Accords. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart about the terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on 4 July 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During his call on 4 July with the Israeli chargé d'affaires in London, the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon expressed his condolences over the terror attack that took place in Tel Aviv earlier that day. The Foreign Secretary also expressed his condolences about this terror attack when he spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on 5 July. We are appalled by terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. There can be no justification for such acts of violence. Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. We understand and share the deep frustration on all sides at the lack of progress on the Middle East Peace Process. Ongoing violence underlines that a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). We work with them on human rights and countering disinformation. They are experts on tracking disinformation narratives that our adversaries are using to undermine social cohesion and norms around the world, as well as using open-source investigation methods to identify and verify digital content showing abuse of human rights. Following the coup in Myanmar, we established and funded the Myanmar Witness programme, run by CIR, to collect and verify evidence of serious human rights violations and abuses. This evidence could be used in any future legal proceedings.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the degree of religious freedom in North Korea, and what steps he is taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion and belief in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
We are aware of reports, including the UN Commission of Inquiry report (2014), that people in North Korea who are involved in religion (outside of state-controlled organisations), face severe punishment for practising their beliefs, including summary executions, torture, lack of judicial process and forced labour. Officially recognised places of worship are effectively under state control. Given the closed nature of the regime it is difficult to verify reports.
We shall continue to work bilaterally and with partners in international fora, such as in the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, to raise our concerns on human rights issues with the DPRK government at every opportunity. We continue to urge the DPRK to uphold its human rights obligations and engage substantively with the international community on this issue.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the steps necessary to ensure the economic redevelopment of the Gaza Strip; and what steps can be taken to facilitate such redevelopment without affecting the security of Egypt and Israel.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We have frequent discussions with the Government of Israel about the need to ease restrictions on Gaza. Easing restrictions would alleviate the suffering of ordinary Palestinians, advance construction, and allow the Gazan economy to grow. We are also urging Egypt to show maximum flexibility in opening the Rafah crossing. A durable agreement is necessary to safeguard Egypt and Israel’s security; it must include Hamas and other terrorist groups permanently ending rocket fire.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
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 (a) extent, (b) effectiveness and (c) sources of financing of PKK terrorism in Turkey; and what support the Government has offered to the government of Turkey to help tackle such terrorism.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The PKK, and the linked Kurdistan Freedom Falcons are proscribed terrorist groups in the UK and within the EU, which makes the provision of financial support to them a criminal act. We continue to take action against their terrorist activity domestically and to encourage international partners to do the same. The UK and Turkey continue to work closely together to address terrorism in all its forms, on a bilateral basis and through international forums such as the Global Counter - Terrorism Forum, and the international Coalition Against Daesh. We continue to express our view that PKK violence must cease, and to encourage a peace process to bring the ongoing violence in the south east of Turkey to an end.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
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 (a) the territorial integrity and (b) improved border arrangements with Spain of Gibraltar.
Answered by David Lidington
The United Kingdom will continue to stand by Gibraltar. We are confident of the United Kingdom’s sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, and have been firm in our commitment to the double lock. We will continue to protect the rights of the people of Gibraltar to remain British, for as long as they wish to do so.
Maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border is one of our top priorities. We welcome the overall downward trend in border delays since their height in 2013, but we are alive to the risk of a return to disproportionate delays at any time. Her Majesty’s Government is working closely with Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar and European partners ahead of proposed changes to the Schengen Border Code later this year to ensure that delays due to security checks are not disproportionate. As we prepare for the process to exit the EU, we will fully involve Gibraltar to ensure that its interests are taken properly into account.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on when Greece will have taken steps to ensure that its asylum system is compliant with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on 21 January 2011 in the case of MSS vs Belgium and Greece.
Answered by David Lidington
The Asylum Agency in Greece was founded in 2011 in response to criticism of the previous system and the case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece. The same law adapted Greek legislation to Directive 2008/115/EC on returning illegally residing third country nationals and related issues.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe monitors the case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece under the “enhanced supervision” procedure. They last considered it in December 2015 and will do so again in December 2016. There was no debate in 2015, which means the Secretariat were satisfied with the information Greece had provided.
The UN’s Universal Periodic Review of Greece will take place in early May. The review will cover the full range of human rights in Greece, including the asylum system. Greece’s self-assessment will be available on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps have been taken during the Government's negotiations on the UK's membership of the EU to restore the UK's rebate to its full previous value.
Answered by David Lidington
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear that the four priorities of our renegotiations are: economic governance; competitiveness; sovereignty; and benefits to EU migrants.
The EU budget financing system was agreed in 2013, when we secured an historic real-terms cut and protected the rebate. Parliament ratified that deal last year.