Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of US State Department's decision to issue sanctions against Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of the Bangladesh Police; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Human rights violations by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) are a serious concern. We continue to raise our concerns over the protection of human rights in Bangladesh, including during Lord Ahmad's visit in November 2021 and in regular diplomatic exchanges. Bangladesh is an important UK security partner, and we maintain productive relationships with Bangladeshi security actors who operate in compliance with human rights. The UK does not provide training to the RAB.
We are aware of US sanctions on officials in Bangladesh. This is a decision by the US Government. The Global Human Rights Sanctions regime gives the UK a powerful tool to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations or abuses. We will continue to consider targets globally, guided by the objectives of the human rights sanctions regime and the evidence. We do not speculate on who may be designated in the future.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
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 the compatibility of recent engagements between Israel and Palestine with international law.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We support direct engagement between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We welcome recent engagement that includes discussions between the Ministries of Finance aimed at improving the economic conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to accept the recommendations of Amnesty International's report entitled Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We do not agree with the use of this terminology. Any judgment on whether serious crimes under international law have occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and do all it can to uphold the values of equality for all.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings of the research study by Amnesty International entitled Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We do not agree with the use of this terminology. Any judgment on whether serious crimes under international law have occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and do all it can to uphold the values of equality for all.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her counterpart in Israel on the findings of the research study by Amnesty International entitled Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We do not agree with the use of this terminology. Any judgment on whether serious crimes under international law have occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and do all it can to uphold the values of equality for all.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support will be given to developing countries reliant on deforestation to make products for export to help meet net-zero targets.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Government is determined to do all it can to halt and reverse forest loss, and this was a COP26 priority. The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, setting out a commitment to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, has now been endorsed by 142 countries. Substantial finance has been committed to help developing countries work towards the aims of the declaration, including a collective pledge by 12 donor countries to provide US$12 billion from 2021-25.
The response to deforestation needs to balance economic interests and environmental protection. This is the approach taken in the Forest and Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, which was also launched at COP26. The dialogue establishes a new partnership between the largest producers and consumers of agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, soya and cocoa, and aims to build collaboration to protect forests while promoting sustainable trade. At the launch of the FACT Dialogue at COP26, the UK committed up to £500m for follow-up action, implemented through FCDO's Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use programme. The funding will protect an estimated 5m hectares of forest and create thousands of green jobs, including in sustainable agriculture and forestry.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to tackle deforestation in (a) Malaysia and (b) other countries that participate in deforestation, while protecting the economies of those countries.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is determined to do all it can to halt and reverse forest loss, and this was a priority for COP26. The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, setting out a commitment to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, has now been endorsed by 142 countries, including Malaysia. This will help to drive forward national action to protect forests. The UK has committed up to £1.5 billion over five years to support such action to protect and restore forests in developing countries.
The response to deforestation needs to balance economic interests and environmental protection. This is the approach taken in the Forest and Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, which was launched by the UK Presidency at COP26. The dialogue establishes a new partnership between the largest producers and consumers of agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, soya and cocoa, and aims to build collaboration to protect forests while promoting sustainable trade. Malaysia is one of the 28 participating countries.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with international partners to ensure that religious liberties and human rights are upheld in Slovakia.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Promoting freedom of religion and human rights is an important part of our work in Slovakia. We continue to promote women's and minority rights, and have regular dialogue with inter-religious groups, local human rights organisations and activists, and international partners. We welcomed Slovakia's appointment of an Ambassador for Human Rights and the convening of a conference on human rights by the Slovak Foreign Ministry in Bratislava on 26 October which was attended by the UK Human Rights Ambassador.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason the UK voted against the UN Resolution A/RES/75/237 calling for action for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK Government is committed to tackling all forms of racism, including antisemitism. We could not agree with the multiple references to the Durban Conference in the UN resolution, given our historic concerns over antisemitism related to that Conference. We also could not accept language welcoming the recent commemorative event in New York, which the UK and many other states did not attend, because of those concerns.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government is providing to third world countries to tackle climate change.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As the Prime Minister has said, Climate is the top priority for the UK. I am looking forward to COP next week which will be the key moment to promote international cooperation on tackling climate change.
Since 2011 UK International Climate Finance has helped over 88 million people cope with the effects of climate change, installed 2,400 megawatts of clean energy and reduced or avoided 180 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.
We remain committed to our pledge to spend £11.6 billion on international climate finance between 2021 and 2026 and to continuing to support developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change, adopt clean growth pathways and reduce carbon emissions.