International Development Committee

Debate between Sarah Champion and Navendu Mishra

Thursday 19th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Champion]

I thank the hon. Member for his comments. The Committee went out to Bosnia—to Mostar. We were genuinely shocked by the palpable tension on the streets and the deliberately inflammatory language and policies that are coming out of Dodik and others. The ambassador at the time and the current ambassador have been working incredibly hard to highlight this, but we need to do more. We need an international condemnation of what is going on over there otherwise it will replicate itself.

[Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)]

This is an important report and I associate myself with the words of the Chair of the Committee regarding the witnesses and the staff members who have worked on this. Does my good friend, the Chair of the International Development Committee, agree that preventing mass atrocities not only is a moral imperative, but delivers wide-ranging security benefits for Britain?

[Sarah Champion]

I thank my hon. Friend and Committee member for his question. Absolutely, obviously, it is the right thing for us to do morally, but early intervention preventing this has wide-ranging benefits for our national security. People do not realise that terrorist groups are looking to radicalise the unrest that is happening. We are looking at the murder, which leads to refugees and asylum seekers coming to this country, making it impossible for them to go back home again. So, absolutely, early intervention and prevention has to be both morally, economically and in terms of human cost the best thing to do.

Select Committee on International Development

Debate between Sarah Champion and Navendu Mishra

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Champion]

I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. Unless that happens, the abuse will continue. It is the Government’s duty to do that. They are spending taxpayers’ money, and they need to be accountable for that.

[Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab) [V]]

This report from the International Development Committee is very important, and I would like to pay tribute to all the staff who have served the Committee and send my best wishes to Fergus Reid, the principal Clerk to the Committee, who is taking some time off. After a lot of fanfare, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative is a skeleton of its former self. Does my hon. Friend agree that, without the political will from the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the ability of the initiative to have a positive impact will continue to dwindle?

[Sarah Champion]

I thank my hon. Friend and fellow Committee member, and I completely agree. We need to see the broader perspective on this, and unless we deal with and prevent violence against women and girls in all its forms, these examples of where it pops up—whether it is violence in war or violence towards aid workers—will just keep on happening. The Government have great strategies in place for this, but they need to embed them in all their work.