Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 respond to the Egyptian Government's refusal to (a) release and (b) recognise the British nationality of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 14 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August. I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made on securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 14 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August. I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 help residents of the Union Island.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Hurricane Beryl passed through the Caribbean at the beginning of July, devastating several islands in the Grenadines, including Union. On 5th July, the Foreign Secretary responded by increasing available UK response funding up to £500,000. This money has allowed us to send emergency shelter kits (capable of supporting up to 4,000 people) and freshwater storage solutions (for over 1,600 families) to affected islands, which included Union Island. The UK also supported the deployment of Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) emergency response teams to assess needs and assist with relief, logistics and telecoms. St Vincent and the Grenadines also received US$1.86 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), to which the UK was a founder donor.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 civilians killed in the Ethiopian and Eritrean offensive in the Tigray region since September 1 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Information on casualties from the conflict in northern Ethiopia is scarce. Since the resumption of fighting on 24 August it is likely that there have been thousands of casualties.
The UK welcomes the peace agreement and cessation of hostilities announced on 2 November between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and their commitment to scale-up the delivery of life-saving aid to Tigray. The UK calls upon the Eritrean Government to support the agreement by withdrawing its troops from Ethiopia.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Statement on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality, what (a) meetings, (b) discussions or (c) correspondence she had with Ministerial colleagues on the decision to remove reference to reproductive healthcare from the statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is committed to defending and promoting universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and will continue working with other countries to protect gender equality in international agreements. In our capacity as Chair of the event, we amended the statement we made at the Freedom of Religion or Belief Conference to make the final statement more inclusive of all perspectives and views to allow for a constructive exchange of views on all issues. The UK continues to fund support and lead on issues of gender including on SRHR, through initiatives related to Women, Peace and Security and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Statement on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality, whether her Department carried out a public consultation prior to removing reference to reproductive healthcare from the statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is committed to defending and promoting universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and will continue working with other countries to protect gender equality in international agreements. In our capacity as Chair of the event, we amended the statement we made at the Freedom of Religion or Belief Conference to make the final statement more inclusive of all perspectives and views to allow for a constructive exchange of views on all issues. The UK continues to fund support and lead on issues of gender including on SRHR, through initiatives related to Women, Peace and Security and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the legal advice provided to her Department relating to her proposals on the Northern Ireland Protocol and the compatibility with the provisions in section 38 of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and Article 4 of the Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by James Cleverly
It is a longstanding convention for governments of all parties not to comment on the fact or contents of government legal advice. As the Foreign Secretary set out in the house on 17 May, we are very clear that this is legal in international law. We believe bringing forward further legislation on this issue to be urgent and essential to protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 potential effect on the human rights of women throughout the world of any change to the Roe vs Wade ruling on abortion.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I understand this is a leaked document rather than an official decision, but this is a matter for the US courts. It would not be appropriate for a foreign government to lobby the independent court process. In general, the UK supports women's reproductive rights globally, including the right to access safe and legal abortion.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what data her Department holds on how many UK citizens have (a) applied for and (b) been granted Class C visas in order to visit an EU country since January 2021; and how many of those citizens subsequently overstayed the time limit of those visas.
Answered by James Cleverly
The EU has legislated such that British citizens do not need a visa when travelling to and within the Schengen Area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This applies to all British citizens travelling to and within the Schengen Area for activities including attending cultural or sports events and tourism.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not hold information centrally on the numbers of British citizens who have applied for or been granted Schengen visas or how many have overstayed the term of their visa when visiting a Schengen State.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms her Department has in place to monitor the number of UK citizens overstaying the term of their visa when visiting an EU country.
Answered by James Cleverly
The EU has legislated such that British citizens do not need a visa when travelling to and within the Schengen Area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This applies to all British citizens travelling to and within the Schengen Area for activities including attending cultural or sports events and tourism.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not hold information centrally on the numbers of British citizens who have applied for or been granted Schengen visas or how many have overstayed the term of their visa when visiting a Schengen State.