Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his international counterparts on the treatment of the Hazara community in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK works closely with the international community, including the G7, G20 and through the UN, to protect the human rights of all of Afghanistan's people and to coordinate a consistent international response. In December, the Minister for South Asia and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised recent attacks on Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the viability of members of the Chagossian community returning to the Chagos Islands.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise this is an important issue for many Chagossians.
We are not in a position to provide detail on the content of ongoing negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory/Chagos Archipelago or speculate on possible outcomes.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding to Chagossian residents in Canterbury through the Chagossian Support Package projects.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to supporting Chagossians wherever they live and will consider proposals from any organisations interested in delivering projects for the benefit of Chagossians.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria his Department has used to determine the distribution of funds for the Chagossian Support Package projects.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Chagossian Support Package funds projects that address the most pressing needs of Chagossians wherever they live. The government will consider proposals from any organisations interested in delivering projects for the benefit of Chagossians.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has had recent discussions with members of the Chagossian community.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We regularly engage with different Chagossian groups on a range of issues.
The Government held an engagement event with Chagossian groups in February 2023 and plans to hold further events in the future.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 support the Hazara community in Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities. We are working with international partners to ensure credible monitoring to hold those responsible for human rights abuses to account. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate. His latest report to the Human Rights Council included an assessment of the situation for Hazara communities. We regularly engage with Hazara representatives who provide vital insight on the situation. Most recently, on 8 December 2022, the Minister for South Asia met representatives from Hazara community groups.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens awaiting repatriation to the UK from the Canary Islands, and what the timeframe is for those citizens to be returned to the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Our Embassy and Consulates in Spain are in touch with and providing advice and support to those who remain and who have contacted us. We believe that the vast majority of British nationals who want to return home have now done so. The FCO does not have a central registration system for flights and British nationals will only be asked to register for flights with Corporate Travel Management (CTM) when charters have been announced for a country. Commercial flights are still available from Spain and information options are available from https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/return-to-the-uk.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 allow UK citizens to access long-term medication if they are abroad and unable to return to the UK during the covid-19 outbreak; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on establishing reciprocal arrangements for long term medication for non-UK residents who are in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Following the change to date for answer of this PQ, I submitted a response by email on 26 March, with the following response.The Table Office have agreed this approach.
We are in close contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance to all British Nationals currently abroad who request it. This includes providing assistance in securing long-term medication for those who are unable to return to the UK.
We are exploring the possibility of reciprocal arrangements for long term medication for non-UK residents who are in the UK. The British Government is working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to help ensure patients, including non-UK residents, can access the medicines they need and precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of future shortages. The Department for Health and Social Care shares regular information about impending supply issues and the management plan with the NHS via networks in primary and secondary care and will liaise with relevant patient groups about issues affecting specific medicines.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the 2018 Aid Transparency Index published by Publish What You Fund, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the categorisation of his Department as poor; and if his Department will (a) publish data to the International Aid Transparency Initiative each quarter and (b) take steps to improve the quality of that data.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
A 2019 aid transparency assessment by Publish What You Fund categorised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) rating as Fair following improvements in the way the FCO publishes data. The FCO is committed to continuing to invest in aid transparency. Since 2018 we have improved the way we publish data, in particular ensuring that data is released quarterly. This contributed to our increased score in the latest assessment. We recognise that we still have more to do and are currently considering how to make further improvements in the light of the 2019 assessment's findings.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart to ensure that Uighurs detained in camps in western China will receive equitable standards of medical care should the coronavirus continue to spread.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign Secretary spoke to State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the coronavirus outbreak on 28 January, including the extensive measures being taken by China to contain the virus, and the evacuation of British Nationals from Hubei province. The Foreign Secretary did not discuss the treatment of Uyghurs detained in Xinjiang during the call. However, we regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in “political re-education camps”, with the Chinese authorities at senior levels. Most recently, our Ambassador to China raised our concerns with Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang on 24 December 2019.