Oral Answers to Questions

Stuart C McDonald Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I saw that for myself when I went to Ethiopia; I went to one of the industrial parks. I think—this comes back to the point about economic development—that Ethiopia is now a great success story in moving from famine and poverty to prosperity and the development agenda. In effect, we want to see more of that.

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

10. Is the Secretary of State aware of reports that the South Sudanese Government are planning to raise the cost of work permits for foreign nationals from $100 to $10,000? What steps can the Department take to ensure access for aid workers, and what success is it having in achieving that?

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this issue. He will not be surprised to hear me say that we have been calling the South Sudanese Government out on that. Their behaviour and conduct in putting up their fees and blocking aid access have been absolutely appalling. We will continue to apply all pressure we can to make sure we tackle these issues directly.