Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make a request to his Azerbaijani counterpart for a UK delegation to visit the 23 Armenian prisoners being held by Azerbaijan in order to (a) verify their conditions and (b) ensure that international standards and conventions are being complied before COP29 in Baku in November.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has consistently urged the Azerbaijani authorities, including ahead of COP29, to ensure that those in detention are afforded a fair trial and are provided safe conditions, in accordance with Azerbaijan's international obligations and commitments. We are in touch with the UK delegation visiting Azerbaijan for COP29 to ensure a smooth visit to the country, however we have not received a formal request for UK Government support to visit Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance his Department is providing to the families of UK citizens in Afghanistan.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Regular commercial flights to and from Afghanistan have resumed, simplifying travel to and from the country. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan. However, British people are choosing to travel to Afghanistan, against FCDO travel advice, and they are able to leave by commercial means. It remains very difficult to give an exact figure of how many British nationals or their dependents are in Afghanistan. The situation is fluid with British nationals entering and leaving all the time. There are currently no British consular officials in Afghanistan and our ability to provide consular assistance in Afghanistan is severely limited. We have consular teams available in neighbouring countries who are able to offer limited remote consular support.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 number of (a) UK Citizens and (b) their dependents, who remain in Afghanistan.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Regular commercial flights to and from Afghanistan have resumed, simplifying travel to and from the country. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan. However, British people are choosing to travel to Afghanistan, against FCDO travel advice, and they are able to leave by commercial means. It remains very difficult to give an exact figure of how many British nationals or their dependents are in Afghanistan. The situation is fluid with British nationals entering and leaving all the time. There are currently no British consular officials in Afghanistan and our ability to provide consular assistance in Afghanistan is severely limited. We have consular teams available in neighbouring countries who are able to offer limited remote consular support.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 repatriate UK citizens in Afghanistan.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Regular commercial flights to and from Afghanistan have resumed, simplifying travel to and from the country. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan. However, British people are choosing to travel to Afghanistan, against FCDO travel advice, and they are able to leave by commercial means. It remains very difficult to give an exact figure of how many British nationals or their dependents are in Afghanistan. The situation is fluid with British nationals entering and leaving all the time. There are currently no British consular officials in Afghanistan and our ability to provide consular assistance in Afghanistan is severely limited. We have consular teams available in neighbouring countries who are able to offer limited remote consular support.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials in his Department worked in the Export Control Joint Unit in each year between 2018 and 2022 inclusive.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Between 2018 and 2022 inclusive, on average approximately between ten to twenty Foreign and Commonwealth Office (later Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) officials worked in the Export Control Joint Unit within each year.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the new Developing Countries Trading Scheme will include equal or improved level of human rights protections when compared to the existing Generalised Scheme of Preferences used by the UK.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The Secretary of State for International Trade is responsible for the UK's unilateral preferences scheme, including the design of the new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The detailed proposals for the DCTS will be published in 2022.
HM Government believes that growing trading relationships increases UK influence in open conversations with partners on a range of difficult issues, including human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international human rights obligations and hold those who violate human rights to account.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what human rights safeguards her Department plans to include in its proposed Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The Secretary of State for International Trade is responsible for the UK's unilateral preferences scheme, including the design of the new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The detailed proposals for the DCTS will be published in 2022.
HM Government believes that growing trading relationships increases UK influence in open conversations with partners on a range of difficult issues, including human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international human rights obligations and hold those who violate human rights to account.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when her Department last discussed trade union rights with her Colombian counterpart.
Answered by Vicky Ford
UK Ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues with the Colombian Government. Most recently, Lord Ahmad discussed our concerns with President Duque during the United Nations Security Council meeting on Colombia earlier this month. The Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Vicky Ford MP, also raised these same human rights concerns in her call to Vice President Ramirez in February.
Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £69 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including trade unionists and social leaders.
Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country,' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council. We look to the Colombian Government to expand its presence in conflict-affected areas, and strengthen the institutions that can improve the security of citizens and investigate and prosecute the criminal actors responsible for violence. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of whether military goods exported to Kazakhstan were used by government forces against protestors in January 2022.
Answered by James Cleverly
The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. We examine every application on a case-by-case basis against strict criteria. Risks around human rights violations and abuses are a key part of our assessment. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression, or where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing or fluid international situations. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of the visit of Gulf foreign ministers to Chevening House on 20 December 2021.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The FCDO publishes the costs related to overseas visits, incoming visits and events hosted by the Foreign Secretary as part of the Quarterly Transparency Return https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-data#2020. We will release the costs for this event in due course as per the usual timeline.