Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Burma about the treatment of the Karen people by the Burmese state.
Answered by Mark Field
Our Ambassador and officials raise concerns with the relevant Burmese authorities when appropriate. Our Embassy in Rangoon stays in contact with Karen representatives and carefully monitors the situation, including through visits by Embassy officials to Karen areas. We are also supporting the 21st Century Panglong peace process to help bring lasting peace to the minority ethnic areas, including the Karen.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for the treatment of the Rohingya people by the Burmese military being repeated in relation to other minority ethnic groups in Burma; and whether his Department has developed contingency plans to meet that case.
Answered by Mark Field
The Burmese state recognises 135 ethnic groups as indigenous. This does not include the Rohingya who have historically been treated differently. The UK Government recognises that this lack of official recognition is a factor in the persecution they face.
Our Embassy in Rangoon stays in contact with representatives from other ethnic groups and our Ambassador and officials regularly raise our concerns about the discrimination that affects them with the relevant Burmese authorities. The UK carefully monitors the situation in Burma's minority ethnic areas and provides political and programme support to the peace process, which seeks to resolve the conflicts that have affected Burma for decades.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to highlight the need to put the Rohingya crisis on the agenda at forthcoming ASEAN summits.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK has been clear on the need for ASEAN countries to contribute to resolving the Rohingya crisis. Ministers and officials have raised the issue with all ASEAN members. The Malaysian and Indonesian Foreign Ministers took part in the Rakhine event which the Foreign Secretary hosted in New York during UN General Assembly Week. I raised Rakhine most recently during my interventions during the Asia-Europe Meeting in Naypyidaw on 20-21 November, which was attended by ministers from all ASEAN countries, and in bilaterals with ministers from Thailand and Brunei.
In advance of the most recent ASEAN Summit, held in the Philippines in November 2017, British embassies and High Commissions in ASEAN countries raised the importance of this issue with their hosts, urging that it be addressed at the Summit. Our understanding is that the Rohingya crisis was not formally on the agenda (which has to be agreed by all members, including Burma) but that it was discussed at length informally and in the margins of the Summit.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) Bangladeshi and (b) Burmese counterpart on the terms of the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh.
Answered by Mark Field
The Memorandum of understanding signed on 23 November between the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh includes a clear commitment from the Government of Burma to allow refugees who fled to Bangladesh since October 2016 to return to their original places of residence in Burma or a safe and secure place of their choice. The UK will work with international partners to ensure any returns take place in line with international norms and under international monitoring.
I made clear in my 20 November meeting with the Chief of Staff to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi that the UK expects the Burmese authorities to ensure the safety and security of all Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh on their return to Burma. I also discussed the agreement with Bangladesh Minister of State Shahriar Alam on 30 November, setting out that any returns should be voluntary, safe, and in dignity.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2017 to Question 9083, what assessment he made of the potential merits of freezing funding to Adam Smith International in February 2017, in line with the decision taken by the Department for International Development.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not awarded any new contracts to Adam Smith International (ASI) this Financial Year. However, like the Department for International Development (DFID), the FCO is continuing to work with ASI on high priority existing projects.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve the transparency, effectiveness, and fraud prevention of Official Development Assistance spending by his Department.
Answered by Alan Duncan
All FCO ODA expenditure conforms to the department's robust management and assurance processes to ensure it delivers value for money for the UK taxpayer. This includes following the processes for monitoring expenditure, as laid out in Her Majesty's Treasury's document, 'UK Official Development Assistance: value for money guidance'. Any allegations of fraud are swiftly investigated and if substantiated projects will be terminated.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Rt. Hon. Alastair Burt, was aware that money from the Access to Justice and Community Services programme in Syria had fallen into the hands of terrorists when he responded to a question in the Chamber by the Rt. Hon. Emily Thornberry on 24 October 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I was not aware on 24 October of the allegations subsequently made by the Panorama programme. HMG is not aware of any evidence of UK funding directly fallling into the hands of terrorist groups through the Access to Justice and Community Services programme in Syria.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
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 projects led by his Department and funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund do not contribute to human rights violations or enable funding to be diverted to terrorist groups.
Answered by Rory Stewart
All Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) funded programmes managed by the FCO have robust monitoring processes in place to mitigate the risk of funds being diverted. We take appropriate action on all allegations of misuse of funds. Where specific human rights concerns are identified, an Overseas Security and Justice Assessment is completed to identify risks and mitigating actions.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what future plans he has to continue engaging with non-governmental organisations concerned with gender equality and women's rights over the next year.
Answered by David Lidington
Discrimination and violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights abuses. Tackling this issue is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and central to our work to advance gender equality and empower women. We will continue to consult non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on our approach. I welcome their expert advice.
FCO officials in London and across the diplomatic network regularly meet with a wide range of NGOs to discuss gender equality and women’s rights. This will continue. As will the regular exchanges with NGOs held at the FCO and in Geneva before sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. The UK Mission in New York consults regularly with international NGOs and in conjunction with Government Equalities Office, holds nightly briefings for UK NGOs attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March each year.
The Forced Marriage Unit runs a quarterly partnership board, involving a range of NGOs; and Conflict Department work closely with Gender Action for Peace and Security – an organisation that represents a number of NGOs. In addition, within the UK, the FCO works closely with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) which carries out an extensive consultation exercise with NGOs in advance of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) each year.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the commitments given by his Department during the Girls Summit 2014.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) committed to work in advance of the Summit to: secure high level overseas attendance, ensure that foreign governments make commitments to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), and lobby countries to sign the Girl Summit Charter. The FCO engaged over 70 of its diplomatic missions, working closely with the Department for International Development. This resulted in over 800 participants attending the Summit from 50 countries, including over 30 ministers; 36 countries signing the Summit Charter so far; and commitments to action from nearly 150 governments, organisations and individuals to date.
The FCO is committed to building on the success of the Summit and will continue to lobby more states to sign the Charter and to continue to make commitments to end FGM and CEFM.