Israel and Palestine

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Dr Savage]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention, but I will make some progress now, as I am aware that I am on a time limit, with the clock ticking.

The Prime Minister has also expressed support for Palestinian statehood as a contribution to the peace process, describing it as an “undeniable right” of Palestinians. The Government, however, have not committed to a fixed timeline for recognition. Currently, the state of Palestine is recognised as a sovereign country by 146 other countries, representing a little more than 75% of UN member states. On 3 December—just earlier this month—the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the creation of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with 157 votes in favour, including that of the United Kingdom. A YouGov poll in early October found that 70% of respondents agreed that Palestinians have a right to a state of their own. I was proud to stand on a manifesto that committed to the immediate recognition of Palestine on 1967 lines, something that the Liberal Democrats have long called for. In fact, in each of the past three Parliaments, my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) has tabled a Bill to recognise the state of Palestine.

The recognition of Palestine is a tool that will inject into Palestinian society hope that having their own state is possible. We believe that that will help wrest control back from the extremes at the edges of Palestinian society. Ultimately, if such a step were mirrored by other countries, widespread recognition of Palestine would have significant practical and political implications, including full participation in international organisations such as the UN and its agencies; access to economic benefits, including predictable market access; membership of the IMF and World Bank, opening avenues for financial support; and the establishment of full embassies in countries that recognise Palestinian statehood.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

More than half of EU nation states recognise Palestine, and the UK recognises it at the International Criminal Court and in UN agencies. Does the hon. Lady agree that it seems a bit inconsistent for His Majesty’s Government—of both parties—to have a long-standing policy of pursuing a two-state solution if they recognise only one of those states?

[Dr Savage]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention, and I agree.

Given that the Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary have both committed in principle to Palestinian statehood, and given that the majority of the international community has already recognised the statehood of Palestine, we might validly ask what the Government’s criteria are for the time that is “most conducive” to peace, and why we are lagging behind the rest of the world and dragging our feet on this issue.

North-West Syria

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Hamish Falconer]

I regret to tell the hon. Member that the Syrian people have to choose between more than two evils. There is a multiplicity of actors in the region, and that multiplicity makes humanitarian access particularly complex at the moment. We are focused on ensuring that there are routes for humanitarian aid into north-west Syria—that was one of the topics of my discussions with my Turkish equivalent earlier today—and we are keen to ensure that there are humanitarian routes out for those who might be affected, including the minorities who I know are on the minds of the hon. Member and others across the House.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Christian minority families find themselves facing jihadist terrorists and Russian airstrikes. The family of my Acton constituent Waheba fled to Aleppo 10 years ago from their original city of Al-Tabqah. She wonders whether there could be some kind of Ukrainian-style resettlement scheme for Syrians with blood ties here.

[Hamish Falconer]

In these early days of the conflict, we are focused on events in Syria, but I am happy to write to my hon. Friend with details about what else we might do.

Bangladesh: Attacks on Hindu Community

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Lady for her suggestions for the Government. I can confirm that, on 20 November, the Deputy Prime Minister said in Parliament that the envoy appointments were under ministerial consideration and would be decided on in course, so the hon. Lady will hear presently about the freedom of religion representative. Regardless of any ministerial visit, the treatment of minorities will always be uppermost on our agenda with the Government we are visiting. As for her question about funding, we are providing up to £27 million between March 2023 and February 2028 under the “Bangladesh—Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics” programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence. That is the sort of programme that we have when a country is a “human rights concern” country.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I am grateful to my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner), for raising these important issues. We must be vigilant against all attacks on minorities, be they Buddhists, Christians or the Hindus in Bangladesh. Does the Minister agree that, sadly, at times, since the country’s formation in 1971, there have been communal tensions of this kind? They are not new. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have sent me a list of flashpoint events. Between 1974 and 2001, the Hindu population in Bangladesh decreased from 13.5% to 8.5%, so this is not a new phenomenon. May I also caution the Minister? Following the collapse of the regime after the murder of 800 students in the summer, some people may seek to exploit these tensions, and we need to stamp on that hard. Can the Minister assure us that we are doing all that we can to enable the country to make the transition to democracy, and to what people are calling Bangladesh 2.0?

[Catherine West]

The hon. Lady is a champion of human rights in the House, and I thank her for her particular interest in Bangladesh.

Gaza and Humanitarian Aid

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Ayoub Khan]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I think we are all singing off the same hymn sheet when it comes to what the UK should be doing.

Experts say that 2,000 trucks are required to address the current crisis, but only 52 are coming in at the moment. Aid convoys are being blocked not only at the checkpoints by Israeli soldiers; we have all witnessed some of the Israeli civilians blocking aid at crossings like Kerem Shalom and Nitzana. While the Israeli Army are competent to disperse thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv within minutes, they choose not to disperse the fewer than 100 protesters blocking life-saving aid. Even once they get through that blockade, they are shot at by IDF forces, either by snipers, drones or other military means.

We all know about the killings of the seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen charity, which included three British aid workers. That was despite the Israeli Army being given co-ordinates and information about locations.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The hon. Gentleman mentioned aid workers. Does he not agree that it is not just aid workers but those in the media, teachers, doctors and medical staff where we are seeing a discrediting and delegitimisation of the UN? He mentioned buildings, even the oldest church in Christendom. It feels like even within the rules of war, something has gone wrong here.

[Ayoub Khan]

Of course. The biggest problem we have is that journalists are not allowed in. One has to think about the reason why journalists are not being afforded the opportunity to report impartially—it is not happening. If the Israeli Government have nothing to hide, we would expect them to be welcoming journalists into the war zone. The risks are down to the journalists. However, we have seen this on an enormous scale. Journalists believe that they are being targeted specifically, so there is no reporting from within.

This is collective punishment on an enormous scale. There are no red lines for Netanyahu’s Government. The actions of the IDF over the past 369 days are not those of a moral army as Israel claims, but actions that have crossed every moral and legal boundary. Netanyahu’s pursuit of Gaza’s destruction is relentless and will not stop unless forced to do so. I welcome the reinstatement of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees funding by this Government, but we must do more.

Democracy in Bangladesh

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Wednesday 11th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

It was the sitar-loving George Harrison who sang that

“Bangladesh…sure looks like a mess”.

He made the observation in 1971, soon after the country’s formation, but it applies again since 5 August, after momentous events happened in that country. No one saw it coming, but the previous Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who had looked so entrenched, was overthrown. Within days, her replacement was Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel prize winner for his concept of microfinance. That did not happen without bloodshed. Hundreds of students were killed in the struggle for the new Bangladesh 2.0, as people have called it, and thousands injured.

Bangladesh’s founding constitution—it is only a young country—stressed democracy, secularism and socialism, but in recent years it has become synonymous with corruption, authoritarianism and repression. There were echoes of Saddam Hussein’s fall when we saw TV pictures of statues of the first ever leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, toppled, with effigies of him burned and pictures smashed, from the capital city, Dhaka, to Tower Hamlets. It was all because of his daughter, the ex-PM Sheikh Hasina, who had ruled in two bursts for a large percentage of the country’s existence. It was she who ensured the omnipresent pictures of her dad across the nation. For me, it had echoes of Tiananmen Square in 1990, although in this case the students won. There may be a fledgling interim Government, but I feel they have very good intentions, and we should congratulate them.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

rose—

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

rose—

[Dr Huq]

I will give way to the new Chair of the Defence Committee.

[Mr Dhesi]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I congratulate her on securing this Adjournment debate about democracy in Bangladesh. After the recent upheaval, many of my constituents in Slough and people across the globe are extremely concerned about not just democracy, but the rights of minorities. There have been many attacks, in particular on the Hindu minority community. Does she agree that it is incumbent on the new Administration to safeguard the rights of all minorities within Bangladesh?

[Dr Huq]

My hon. Friend always makes excellent points. When we are talking about minorities such as Hindus and Buddhists—there are various minorities—it is interesting to look at who is propagating the stories. There have also been pictures of devout Muslim students from the madrasas in their topi defending Hindu homes. BBC Verify has shown that some of these attacks have been on people associated with the previous regime. Sometimes these things are a bit amplified by people with agendas, but my hon. Friend makes a great point.

[Jim Shannon]

I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. She is absolutely right to highlight the issue. Does she not agree that democracy means the protection of human rights and religious freedom? I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief. We stand up for those with Christian faith, those with other faiths and those with no faith, the right to religious freedom and the right to practise faith or to have no faith. There can never be true democracy in Bangladesh until a Government and a system are in place that do not penalise people based on how they worship or where they worship, but that offer protection for people’s differences. That is what society should be like.

[Dr Huq]

I totally agree with the hon. Member. The UK has a unique historical role in the colonial histories and as head of the Commonwealth. He does great work on the APPG. We should be vigilant on all these things.

[Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Ind)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important debate. On the UK’s role, is she aware that in May, the previous UK Government signed a deal with the now deposed Bangladeshi Government about fast-tracking the deportation of Bangladeshi asylum seekers, presumably including those seeking political asylum? Bangladesh was deemed a supposedly safe country. Does she agree that something has clearly been revealed to be wrong here, both with the deportation policy itself and with the UK’s foreign policy objectives?

[Dr Huq]

I have checked, and apparently some of those memorandums of understanding are being looked at by the new Government one by one to see if they are carried over. The hon. Member makes an excellent point. Let us have a reset. We have a fresh Government in this country and a fresh one in Bangladesh, so it is time to look at these things through new eyes.

Back in the summer—in fact, it was at the same time as we saw race riots in this country—there was footage of jubilant Bangladeshis marching through the streets of Tower Hamlets, the hon. Member’s borough. That confused many people, but it was in happiness; they were not angry ethnic mobs. There is a big global diaspora, with 70,000 in this country, including me. The diaspora can be seen across Europe. In some of the middle eastern emirate states, the diaspora has supplied cheap labour to build such things as World cup stadiums in Qatar. Bangladesh is a place that exports people.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech about an important issue. I commend the work of the Bangladeshi community in Reading, who work incredibly hard in our town. They are visible in a whole series of professions and business activities. I thank and commend my hon. Friend for securing this debate and for raising these important matters about the future of Bangladesh. Across the House, we all share concerns about this wonderful country, and we wish it the best with its new leadership.

[Dr Huq]

My hon. Friend is so right. I did not see any demos in Reading, but I do know that in all sorts of European capitals, including Paris and Rome, as well as in Manchester and Trafalgar Square, there were solidarity protests when these things went on. The diaspora has been active.

I am a London-born Bangladeshi. I kind of knew about the country from my parents telling me that it was this paradise of coconut trees and those kind of things. I only went as a teenager. More recently, as an adult and as an MP, I have noticed the slightly more sinister side, with things like enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Every human rights organisation—Amnesty International and so on—has condemned those.

I try to keep out of this subject—I do not have a very Bangladeshi electorate—but I was jolted when in 2018 I heard from the family of Shahidul Alam, a photographer who was taking pictures of an earlier student protest, that he had been banged up and tortured. Then I had to get involved. I was there as recently as May with the excellent all-party parliamentary group on global sexual and reproductive health rights—it has been reconstituted just today—for a United Nations Development Programme conference. Again, I realised that I was in a one-party police state—it is not quite right.

As one of the diaspora, these human rights crackdowns came into my inbox, and they reached fever pitch in July when hundreds of brave students gave their lives in a struggle. Before we broke for recess, I had a panel discussion, with the panellists including Toby Cadman, a barrister who has defended people from the Jamaat party that was banned by the previous regime—it has just been unbanned—and the head of Amnesty International UK. The discussion, which we had in the Grand Committee Room of Westminster Hall, was so oversubscribed that people had to be turned away, such was the thirst for information. I see the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) in his place. He was there, and I think that his defeat of Jonathan Ashworth may have had something to do with some comments about this subject, but let us not speculate.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Does the hon. Member agree about the positive contribution that the Bangladeshi community has made to our country, which has made it as it is today? I would like to take this opportunity to pay homage to the Bangladeshi community of Leicester South, who are hard-working, entrepreneurial and philanthropic. Their commitment to using the political system to improve their community has made my city as great as it is today.

Does the hon. Member also agree that the riots we saw recently in Southport after the devastating attack and killing of three innocent people emphasise how important it is that we do not single out a community, because that can have devastating effects? Does she agree that both sides of the House should be much more responsible in the language they use to ensure that community cohesion ensues?

[Dr Huq]

I completely endorse what the hon. Member is saying. We do need to temper our language and be careful. Every Member in this House has a curry house in their constituency, and that will not be an Indian restaurant—it will be Bangladeshis who run it. An enormous contribution has been made to our society. With the things we saw this summer, we should stamp on the misinformation that I referred to in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi).

Again, those Bangladeshi university students showed courage, and they were not just the elitist ones from the capital city; it happened all over the country at public and private universities, with boys and girls. Their demands were initially against corruption but they grew to wider pro-democracy concerns and the overthrow of the Prime Minister. So far, so predictable, but then in the biggest plot twist since Bobby Ewing in the shower, when all those tensions were coming to a head, we heard that the previous Prime Minister had suddenly scarpered. She helicoptered out. A regime so entrenched that it looked like it would last forever suddenly collapsed like a pack of cards. In January, there was an election in Bangladesh—we hear that 40% of the globe is going to the polls this year—although there were not any other real candidates in it, so that was declared null and void. We now have this caretaker Government who are there to oversee fresh elections. We do not know exactly when those will be.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. She knows that in the city of Birmingham we have an extremely sizeable community that has Bangladeshi heritage, like the constituency of the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam), and the Bangladeshi community in the curry houses contributes some £4 billion per annum to the to the taxman.

Does the hon. Member agree that the recent disorder and killing of students in Bangladesh has impacted the Bangladeshi heritage community here in the UK, especially when we had a lockdown of all telecoms? Does she agree that the next step must be a democratically elected Government and that that must be expedited, potentially with international observers, to ensure that it is free and fair, so that the loss of those hundreds of students’ lives was not in vain?

[Dr Huq]

I agree. Our loved ones were worried, and we did not know that was going on. We are talking about a country that can, at will, shut off the internet so that people cannot communicate with the outside world, or even with each other via phone signal—there was a Digital Security Act that was a bit sinister, and stopped all freedom of speech, thought, expression and assembly. Yes, we must rebuild. The hon. Gentleman made a great point.

The sight of Muhammad Yunus—until recently, the previous regime had tried to lock him up—was baffling but reassuring for many, because he is globally recognised. He was a character on “The Simpsons”; Lisa discovered his microfinance loans to women. Among his friends are the Obamas and the Clintons, and 197 world leaders have signed a memorandum to welcome him to power. He has the in-tray from hell, and a big job to do in repairing democracy. He was here in March, and my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Rushanara Ali) organised a meeting for him with the all-party parliamentary group for Bangladesh, which she then chaired. He is such a modest man; he had 200 different court cases against him, but he did not go on about them—it had to be teased out of him by Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chaired that day. He is known as the banker to the poor.

Nobody saw this coming. Bangladesh is a country of contradictions. It has 175 million people on a land mass the size of England and Wales, and is beset by natural disasters—at the moment, there are the worst floods in 30 years. Youth unemployment is sky high, which partly explains the protests.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on getting this debate. Does she agree that there is also a geopolitical issue surrounding all the changes in Bangladesh? Hitherto, it adopted a credible non-aligned position, supported the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and tried basically to be a promoter of peace in the region. I do not know any more than she does what the outcome of all this will be, but does she agree that the important thing is that Bangladesh remains independent and not aligned with any other bloc? Otherwise, we might end up with the further problem of a cold war in south-east Asia.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. I remind Members that interventions should be short. I know that you have all just had a master class in very long interventions, but I am sure that Dr Rupa Huq is about to conclude her remarks, so that the Minister has an opportunity to speak.

[Dr Huq]

There is plenty more to say. We need a fresh start—a reset, as the right hon. Gentleman said, and “in neither Washington nor Moscow”, as the slogan used to be. We need less gerontocracy. Yunus is 84, though he is very sharp. The leader he overthrew is 76, and the opposition rival, Khaleda Zia, is 78.

I have some questions for the Minister. As I said, there is a big job to do. Given our unique role in all this, we should offer support. Apparently, the constitution is being amended and redrafted. Could we lend expertise there? British lawyers have good form on this; we constructed the European convention on human rights. Capacity building is needed to cleanse all sorts of institutions of party people who were in the pocket of the last regime. Hendon police training college is renowned all over the world; perhaps we can rebuild the police in Bangladesh, because apparently there has been a bit of a vacuum there recently. The Stormtrooper-like Rapid Action Battalion force should be disbanded, and the death penalty should be gone. Maybe we could do something about climate finance, because countries in the global south face the brunt of climate problems, and we are in the run-up to COP29. These measures do not even have to cost anything; we could put a polluter-pays levy on some countries.

Lastly, we need to recover some of the assets. The right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) mentioned foreign Governments’ interference. When I last went to Bangladesh, I saw Chinese power plants and Russian flyovers—lots of things like that; I cannot remember what they all were. Money that belongs to the Bangladeshi people was looted and plundered. We need asset tracing to recover it.

I understand that Professor Yunus is coming to the UN General Assembly. It would be great if His Majesty’s Government warmly welcomed him—I do not know if they will be represented by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West), the Prime Minister or whoever.

We are talking about Bangladesh 2.0 and human rights. When Gandhi was asked what he thought of western civilisation, he famously said:

“I think it would be a good idea”.

Let us make sure that democracy and human rights in Bangladesh are not just a good idea, but a given. People are talking about this as a second revolution. Let us rebuild Bangladesh, so that human rights and democracy are a given. I look forward to hearing what the Minister says.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Tuesday 30th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I was very pleased, alongside the Prime Minister, to meet the Irish Taoiseach and to discuss that and other issues.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Mr Speaker, you and I are both old enough to remember Tiananmen Square. The use of lethal force on student protesters in Bangladesh has rightly been condemned by our Government. I urge the Government to put pressure on the Bangladeshi investigation, so that it has an international element, because a country that can just turn off all communications with the outside world and that controls all institutions, right down to its stormtrooper-like police, should not be allowed to mark its own homework.

[Catherine West]

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has been very clear that what has happened in the last couple of weeks in Bangladesh is not acceptable—we have raised it on a number of occasions—including the nature of the judicial review that is currently being undertaken by the Government of Bangladesh.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Tuesday 30th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his thoughts and ideas, which he came and spoke to me about last week. He was conveying the views of the mosques in Aylesbury. We are pursuing many of the ideas that he set out, as he knows, especially on meeting the evident humanitarian needs that have rightly preoccupied the House today.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

T3. One month since UN Security Council resolution 2728 passed with UK support, what are our Government doing to bring about the immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the compliance with international law, the release of hostages and the passage of aid that it calls for? What are the consequences for non-compliance, apart from more death and destruction?

[Mr Mitchell]

As the hon. Lady knows, UN resolution 2728, which was passed on 25 March, reflected the international consensus behind the UK’s position about the importance of getting aid in and the hostages out. That is what we are bending every sinew to achieve.

Israel and Gaza

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Lady invites me to qualify or add to the words I have already used to answer that and similar questions. I am sorry to disappoint her, but I am not going to do so.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

For what will soon be six months, this Government have repeatedly rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire from MPs and aid agencies, so I welcome the changed position taken at the Security Council yesterday. However, I am confused by this insistence that the Government’s position has not changed. Can the Minister clarify that he is calling for an immediate ceasefire, that the UN resolution is binding and must be implemented immediately, and that there are consequences for non-compliance? Any dither and delay, including with UNRWA, means more innocent civilians killed and more children starving.

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Lady is not right in what she says about there being a change in the Government position, for the reasons that I have repeatedly set out. The United Kingdom has long been calling for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire, and that is what resolution 2728 seeks to deliver.

Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenian Refugees

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Elliott. Although this debate’s title is primarily concerned with Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, there is a complex situation in a complex region, with multiple factors at play in some 4,400 square kilometres. Whether we call it annexation or occupation, the refugee crisis results from a struggle that struggles at the moment to gain attention in a world where we are becoming increasingly desensitised to conflict, be it Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Palestine. Yet we talk here of a European near neighbour—a democracy—that has a hostile neighbouring territory in Azerbaijan, with its aggressions and ethnically motivated crimes against Armenians.

The figures are grim, with 10 months of illegal blockading of food, fuel and electricity and the forced displacement of 100,000 people. My interest in the matter comes from my constituents. We have a vibrant and sizeable Armenian community and many members are hyphenated Armenians—Iranian-Armenians, Syrian-Armenians or Turkish-Armenians—underscoring that this is a country that has had pogroms, massacres and genocides for many years.

I was on the delegation in February with other MPs. That visit took in the Prime Minister, the President of the very handsome wood-panelled National Assembly, Opposition and Government people and, in fact, a Minister for Economy who had to resign hours after our visit. However, it was only when we got out of the embassies and the ministries and we got out to Jermuk in the snow-capped hills that the most memorable aspect of the visit took place. We got out of the cosy confines of the capital, Yerevan, and took in the ancient monastery on our route in the mountains, in a sign that that was the cradle of Christendom.

The atrocities we have seen—the destruction of churches and crosses, and the attempt to entirely delete Armenian culture through the renaming of towns and cities—are sickening. As the right hon. Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) pointed out, during our visit four soldiers were killed. The most memorable aspect of our visit was the refugees we saw.

Jermuk, which is known as a bottled water brand with a reindeer as its logo, was once a fashionable ski resort and spa town, but it is now 80% deserted because of the decline of that former trade. Instead, it is readjusting to its new existence, accommodating the influx of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees.

We heard harrowing stories of human suffering—really touching stuff about people who fled on foot in the absence of fuel and took days and days to get over the border. We heard about the sadistic actions of the Russian soldiers, with their black market boiling sweets and all sorts of other horrific stuff. We spoke to the mayor and governor of Jermuk. Generations of these people have been beset by trauma, but they have integrated well and are grateful for what the municipality has been doing,

In this country, our voice should be stronger. In this Chamber in 2020, we debated the blockade of the Lachin corridor, but our weak response emboldened those actions. This was totally foreseeable all those years ago.

It has been pointed out that Armenia has an old elite that moved from a velvet revolution, and is turning away from Russian influence—I think it has been called the pivot away from the Kremlin. The transition has not been comfortable. The EU has granted candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, but Armenia has had no such privilege. It also has no love from Russia, despite the fact that it is still a member of the CSTO.

We vowed to use our voices to raise the plight of the Armenians on our return. We laid flowers at the national genocide memorial—again, the very fact that there is a national genocide memorial is significant. The hyphenated Armenians of Ealing and Acton remind us of how wide the Armenian diaspora is: it is scattered throughout many countries, forced out by continuous persecution, genocide and displacement. Among the 20,000 Armenians in London, we have Ukrainian-Armenian communities. Ealing has long commemorated the Armenian genocide of 1915. We have an apricot tree at Ealing Green, which was upgraded this September to a more permanent memorial, but it has already been vandalised by, it is suspected, the Turkish Grey Wolves group, which protested its inauguration last autumn.

I have called for this Government to recognise 1915 as a genocide. Our closest ally, Biden, has done so, and yet there has been no budging from our Government. This timidity—this vacuum—encourages these actions by Azerbaijan, which has recently had an election whose result was entirely foreseeable, rather like the Russian election this weekend.

Ealing and Acton are richer for having the Navasartian centre in Northfield and the Hayashen centre in Acton, which have both done fundraising for Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, but what are our Government doing? It feels as if, in our post-Brexit world, we are desperate for trade deals. On the role of BP, I would like to ask the Minister how much oil pulls the strings of these relationships. People who did election observation in Baku said that they could smell the oil when they landed; it is all about oil. It is ironic that COP29 will be held in Baku—what an act of greenwashing. Yesterday at the all-party parliamentary group, we heard that the ground was being rendered infertile for flora and fauna by this scorched earth policy.

I pay tribute to my Armenian communities, and I want to press the Government on aid. We know that the 0.7% commitment, which the manifestos we all stood on pledged to maintain, has been cut. Could there be a Homes for Ukraine-type scheme for refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh? We saw the trauma and the need for psychological help for people who have undergone this recent cycle of violence—and it is a cycle of violence. Ultimately, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh want to return to their land, to the places that they have lived in for millennia, even though we see attempts to wipe out territories such as Artsakh from the map.

While the eyes of the world might be elsewhere, we must be consistent in our principles. On Ukraine, we say that self-determination is right and destruction is wrong, so why can we not apply the same principles consistently here?

Shnorhavor. Thank you.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Leo Docherty)]

I am pleased to be here to answer this important debate, Ms Elliott. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan) for securing it and for highlighting, through reference to her recent experience of travelling in the region, the acute challenges facing those affected by September’s military action in Nagorno-Karabakh. I appreciate her sharing her impressions of her time there.

I am grateful for the contributions of all other hon. Members, and I shall seek to cover off the questions and points raised during this afternoon’s powerful and compelling speeches. I will begin by reflecting on the humanitarian situation, before turning to the topic of peace efforts. As colleagues have concluded this afternoon, lasting peace is at the heart of any long-term solution and any improvement in the lives and livelihoods of people in the region.

As hon. Members have eloquently set out, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are deeply complex. The plight of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh is the most recent chapter in a 35-year conflict in which hundreds of thousands of civilians on both sides have been displaced from their homes. As we have heard this afternoon, Azerbaijan carried out a military operation last September that restored its sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population of around 100,000 people fled to Armenia, where they faced acute humanitarian challenges.

Although the UK fully recognises Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we are also clear that the use of force is not an acceptable means of resolving tensions between communities. As we have heard this afternoon, that military operation followed a nine-month restriction of the Lachin corridor—the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia—which resulted in a dire humanitarian situation, including shortages of food, fuel, medicine and other basic supplies. The UK made it very clear bilaterally, as well as in the OSCE and at the United Nations, restricting access to the Lachin corridor and other supply routes was unacceptable, and we publicly called for access to be restored.

Dwelling on UK action as part of the humanitarian response, we continued to work alongside international partners in both countries to support humanitarian responses to the situation. Last September, as has been discussed this afternoon, we announced £1 million for the Red Cross’s movement of life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support for the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict. I have heard the calls this afternoon for an increased financial contribution, and I can say that we will of course continue to keep these issues under review. We should also bear in mind that we have contributed £1 million to regional de-mining since 2021. I have noted the views of colleagues this afternoon, and we will also keep that issue under review.

We provided further medical assistance to survivors in Armenia in partnership with the UK medical education database, including medical supplies given to the National Centre for Burns and Dermatology. We are committed to supporting Armenia as it provides for the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, and we will continue to work with international partners and the Armenian Government to strengthen their capacity to support the refugees and the communities hosting them. We are also determined to support Azerbaijan to make safe its recovered territories for the return of its own displaced population, as well to ensure the integration of ethnic Armenians who wish to return. As I have mentioned, we have contributed £1.5 million to mine action in the region, which continues to have a very important, lifesaving effect.

I turn to the peace process. I intend during my peroration to answer all the questions posed. It is clear that the peoples of both Armenia and Azerbaijan have suffered greatly during this long-running conflict. That is why the UK Government have been a leading voice in urging peace and engaging extensively with both Governments. I thought my right hon. Friend the Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) summed up the current feeling when he said that there is a realistic recognition of the current situation and a quiet positivity about the possibility of peace, and I concur with that sentiment.

The UK stands by to be a partner for peace, and we will continue to engage energetically in diplomacy and to offer our ability to convene and encourage. In a nutshell, our role is to try to enable those two countries successfully to come together, settle and conclude a lasting peace.

[Dr Huq]

Would the Minister be able to address the issue raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) regarding Russian influence? We hear of Russian peacekeepers, but is that not a contradiction in terms? Should there not be international border forces?

[Leo Docherty]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right: it is a contradiction in terms to refer to Russian peacekeepers. They are nothing of the sort, and we see the Russian role across the region as nothing but extremely unhelpful meddling; I may dwell on that at the end of my remarks. To answer the question posed by the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) about our approach in the context of Russia’s historical role in the region, it is clear that practical experience has revealed Russia to be an unhelpful and unreliable ally.

It is clearly incumbent on countries such as ours—I say this conscious that His Excellency the Ambassador is in the Public Gallery, and I am very glad to see him there—to offer the hand of friendship and partnership to Armenia. I am very pleased that during my last visit we undertook the first stage of the strategic dialogue that now exists between our two countries. It represents a thickening and deepening of an increasingly meaningful bilateral relationship that is good for both sides and for the region.

On the peace process, in calls with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan last September, I urged both sides to return to dialogue and ensure unfettered humanitarian access to the vulnerable people and communities affected by events in Nagorno-Karabakh. The then Foreign Secretary reiterated that message last October when he spoke to various Foreign Ministers. As I mentioned, I visited Yerevan and Baku last November, where I met the leaders and Foreign Ministers of both countries, and I urged them to engage meaningfully in internationally mediated negotiations to reach an agreement and secure a lasting peace for the region. I was delighted that President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan met in Munich last month at the security conference, and that their Foreign Ministers quickly followed up with a meeting in Berlin at the end of February. We continue to engage energetically on the diplomatic front.

I am encouraged by both sides’ openness to continuing their discussions and to recognising and welcoming the offers of international support. We, in concert with our allies in Europe and across the Atlantic, continue to stand ready to support them at every step of their journey towards peace. I again refer to the comments of my right hon. Friend the Member for Maldon: there is a realistic recognition of the opportunity that lies ahead for both leaders to achieve a meaningful and sustainable peace, and we should be quietly optimistic about that. We will continue to offer support through our diplomacy as they do that important work in a bilateral context, which is something we should be quietly encouraged by.

Dementia Services in Ukraine

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Sir Gary Streeter]

The hon. Member makes a very strong point in support of my case that the Government could perhaps support the project we are talking about today and make a real difference to people on ground. I am conscious of time, but once I have finished my formal speech I will read some current testimonies from families of dementia sufferers in Ukraine, to further underline the reasons to bring forward this proposal.

Dementia care in Ukraine before the war lacked strategy, trained professionals, infrastructure and support for people with dementia and their carers. Russian attacks have attacked fundamental services, including power, water, hospitals and so on, so the situation for many people with dementia in Ukraine is now dire. Many older people have refused to leave their homes; meanwhile many women have left with their families, leaving a lack of carers. Specific data on the number of people living with dementia, their location and their needs is lacking. The urgent need now is to build systems and structures to support people living with dementia and their families in both urban and rural Ukraine.

There is no available capacity for dementia sufferers within the Ukrainian healthcare system and there also exists no national programme to advise or support the families and carers of those affected. Nezabutni engaged in a consultation with the Ukrainian Government on this issue in 2021. Although the need has been recognised, perhaps understandably, there has been no progress on the proposal from either the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Social Policy in Ukraine since that consultation.

It is likely that hundreds of thousands of dementia sufferers in Ukraine are impacted by the insecurity and the bombing to a greater extent than their non-afflicted peers. They are unable to access formal medical support through Government medical services. The proposal that the team would like to put in place is a programme to be delivered in three phases. Phase 1 is to carry out groundwork in-country, which will take approximately four months. Phase 2 is to set up and pilot the work programme and is roughly one year in length. Phase 3 is the main programme delivery, which will take two years.

The project will engage with key stakeholders in Ukraine identified by the team, including clinical, academic, charity and Government expertise in health, social care and support. There will also be engagement with international partners, including the WHO, Alzheimer’s Europe, Alzheimer’s Australia and Alzheimer’s USA.

During phase 1, it is envisaged that a UK team of dementia specialists will visit Ukraine, hopefully during 2024, to meet the stakeholders; to review the existing systems and structures; to ensure that its training and support programmes are embedded in Ukrainian practice and culture; to review existing data on diagnosing dementia and care and support; to carry out rapid needs assessment on key training and support priorities; to agree the organisational structure for the programmes to come; and then to report the agreed plans for the subsequent phases.

Phase 2 envisages the setting up and piloting of work programmes. It involves establishing a national training and support co-ordination team, hosted by Nezabutni, to manage the training and support programme, to undertake the in-country needs assessment and priority setting and to agree and document key deliverables. It would also establish a dementia training and support unit, which would agree the delivery systems for the programme, including digital systems, plan a programme of training and awareness courses, and plan and pilot the roll-out in urban and rural settings.

However, the project would then move on to the all-important delivery phase, which would see dementia training and support rolled out across the country, using both digital and traditional efforts—in particular, training doctors, nurses, health workers, social services and care workers in updated dementia awareness and knowledge. It would involve the development of a range of courses for people living with dementia and their carers, alongside raising general awareness and support. Finally, there would be a period of monitoring and evaluating the training outcomes and the time, cost and quality of the training. I know the Minister is keen that anything supported by the Government should be properly evaluated, and that is very much part of our thinking.

What would this excellent work cost? The answer is very little for the likely benefits returned. It is estimated that phase 1 would cost around £150,000, which would include the work undertaken by the Ukrainian charity and its staff and the cost of the visit by three members of the UK team, who are likely to be Ian Sheriff, Professor Rupert Jones and a project manager, to carry out all the stakeholder engagement described previously. For phase 2, the estimated cost is £250,000. For phase 3, the cost would be determined during phase 2.

My simple request to the Minister today is for his Department to be willing to fund the cost of phase 1 to enable this project to get off the ground, whereupon funding applications to others will be made. Of course, we would be delighted if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office would like to engage more fully with the project throughout its length. The cost would be small change compared with the sums we are spending on munitions for Ukraine, and the project would make a massive difference to many lives. It needs the sort of funding that might come from a departmental underspend, or possibly from an under-utilised budget for the mission in Kyiv or elsewhere. The Minister is looking askance at me, but he and I know that these things sometimes get discovered.

I hope the Minister will confirm that his Department is willing to discuss our proposal with members of the UK team to see whether a way forward can be found. The project embraces the best principles of active citizenship, which the Foreign Secretary might describe as “big society”—dedicated professionals having the compassion and drive to use their expertise to benefit people in a troubled part of the world who are less well off, and to put together a coherent, professional plan that will make a real difference. All they need is a little help from the Government to get things up and running.

I will conclude by reading just three of a number of testimonies sent to me by family members of those with dementia in Ukraine. They speak for themselves. Yulia, who lives in Kyiv, says:

“We live in the Solomianski district of Kyiv, which was severely affected by shelling on January 2. We reside in a nine-storey building on the top floor. Our house shook, probably due to falling debris, even though we don’t live near the building where the debris fell. At the first sounds of explosions, we went into the corridor. Mom was with us. Luckily, she doesn’t fully comprehend what’s happening and doesn’t resist when we all gather in the corridor or even in the vestibule.

But over the years of full-scale war, her condition has worsened, and aggression has emerged. She might start shouting at me that the enemies are about to come. In the last such episode, she grabbed a slipper, threatened me, and demanded that I also must shout because the enemies were coming. I don’t know how to handle such situations. During the last outburst, we called an ambulance, and she was administered a sedative.”

Olga, who is also in Kyiv, says:

“As loud as the past few days have been, we haven’t heard anything like it before. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my mom doesn’t understand what’s happening. It’s impossible to take her to a shelter because she doesn’t want to sit; she constantly walks, tries to go outside somewhere, either puts on a pile of clothes or undresses. So, alarms and explosions don’t affect her, but we are hostages because we can neither take her with us nor leave her alone.”

Finally, Natalia, who is also in Kyiv, says:

“We live in the city centre. We didn’t hear the shelling of Kyiv on December 29, 2022, but it was very loud on January 2. My mum and I woke up from the explosion. She no longer understands what’s happening around her; she doesn’t react. Initially, during the full-scale war, she responded and was afraid, but then her condition deteriorated sharply, so now my mom lives in her own world. I can’t even get her to the corridor during an alarm, to a supposedly safer place. She doesn’t want to. I used to lead her out. I tried, but she would return and lie down on her bed.

I realise that it is important for me to stay calm during the shelling. If I get nervous, my mom senses it and gets anxious too. So, during alarms, I do nothing. I stay calm with her, and pray.”

[Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)]

The debate’s new finishing time is now quarter to 5, and the hon. Member has no right of response because it is a 30-minute wonder. I call the Minister, Andrew Mitchell, for the second debate in a row.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

May I say at once, Dr Huq, that it is a great privilege, for only the second time in our joint parliamentary careers, to appear before you today? I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Sir Gary Streeter) for securing this debate, and for his tireless work in supporting the development of dementia-friendly communities. We must ensure that reform and recovery efforts in Ukraine meet the needs and priorities of the entire population, including vulnerable and marginalised groups. My hon. Friend has set out, with great eloquence, a plea in support of one of them.

The Minister for Europe, my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Leo Docherty), would have been delighted to take part in this debate, but I am afraid that he is currently in Uzbekistan on ministerial business. It is therefore my pleasure to respond on behalf of the Government.

The impact of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion has been devastating for the Ukrainian people. Families, children, and elderly and disabled people are forced to make ends meet while sheltering from Russian missiles. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon set out in graphic terms what that means for some families.

We know that the disruption caused by the war poses significant risks to social, political and economic stability in Ukraine, and that the insecurity across the frontlines has made it extremely difficult for humanitarian organisations to establish a sustained presence and support those who need it most. The war has severely impacted livelihoods and income, placing huge strains on Ukraine’s social safety net system. The poverty rate increased from 5.5% in 2021 to 24.1% in 2022, thereby increasing the demand for social assistance.

At least a quarter of Ukraine’s population was over the age of 60 before the Russian invasion. As a result, Ukraine has the largest percentage of older people affected by a conflict in the world. About 80% of single older Ukrainians—[Interruption.]

[Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)]

Order.

--- Later in debate ---

On resuming—

[Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)]

We were rudely interrupted by all these blooming Divisions today. Minister, the new, completely hard stop for this debate is 5.20 pm on the clock in this Chamber, so there are nine minutes left.

[Mr Mitchell]

As I was saying, Dr Huq, before we were interrupted by Divisions elsewhere in the House, about 80% of single older Ukrainians live below the poverty line and many of them are reliant on their pension as their sole income. Older people, particularly those living with health conditions such as dementia, struggle to evacuate and face barriers in accessing health services and social support.

In the Foreign Office’s disability inclusion and rights strategy, we have committed to a “life course approach”, striving to protect the rights of all people at all stages of their lives. We must recognise that older people and people with disabilities are experts in their own lives, and their full, active and meaningful participation in decision making is critical for a recovery that meets their needs.

I turn to British action in this respect. To date, we have pledged almost £5 billion in non-military support to Ukraine, which includes funding for humanitarian aid, social protection, and disability inclusion and rehabilitation services. In 2022, we established a civil society grant fund to support organisations, including those helping vulnerable and marginalised groups.

In June last year, along with Ukraine, we co-hosted the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. Not only did that raise more than $60 billion in international support for Ukraine’s immediate reconstruction and long-term recovery, but our advocacy supported the Government of Ukraine to create a civil society dialogue platform for gender and inclusive reform. I had the honour of attending and speaking at that conference.

Through our multi-donor Perekhid initiative, we are working with Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy and UNICEF to strengthen Ukraine’s social protection systems and services. On 23 November last year, our ambassador in Ukraine spoke at a HelpAge International event on age-inclusive reform and recovery, where the Deputy Minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy joined him on the panel. In his contribution, our ambassador was clear that the war has hit older people the hardest and that they must play a crucial role in Ukraine’s recovery. Britain supports the inclusive policies and programmes that meet older people’s needs. We must give them a voice and recognise their role in rebuilding their lives and communities, and my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon made very clear the priority that we all expect to be attached to that.

We are also funding the World Health Organisation, which will partner with HelpAge International to conduct an updated national survey analysing the barriers and risks to older people in Ukraine in relation to healthcare. The WHO aims to provide humanitarian services to older people in the most affected oblasts of Ukraine, including support for their basic needs and case management of older people to access health and social services.

During his visit to Washington last month, the Foreign Secretary announced further programme allocations, including about £8 million for humanitarian activities focusing on the needs of the most vulnerable in Ukraine, such as older people and people with disabilities. We will continue to support the Government in Ukraine in pursuing recovery, reconstruction and modernisation that puts people at its heart.

Our diplomatic response has been comprehensive. We have helped to build a united international coalition against Russia’s invasion and in support of Ukraine. Russia remains internationally isolated, having lost 18 international elections in 2022 and 2023. The United Nations General Assembly vote in February last year demonstrated that the international community is overwhelmingly united behind Ukraine, with nearly three quarters of the entire membership voting for Russia’s immediate withdrawal and an end to the war. We have also worked with allies to strengthen NATO, expedite membership for Finland and Sweden and provide long-term NATO assistance for Ukraine. Without that activity, none of the things that my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon spoke about would be possible.

To conclude, reform and recovery efforts in Ukraine must be inclusive and take into account the needs of the ageing population. We will continue to work with our allies to ensure that Ukraine gets the support that it needs to win this war, secure a lasting peace and build back better. We commend the bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression, and we remain united across the House in our desire for them to prevail.

To my hon. Friend and his eloquent request for support for a very good cause, I pledge the interest of and help from officials in the Foreign Office to advance that cause. I cannot promise him, as he suggested, that there might be some pot of money available, but I can promise him that he and I share the same desire to drive forward this agenda, and we will do everything we can to help him in that respect. I remain confident that this will continue, and Ukraine can always count on the UK to stand by it.

Question put and agreed to.