Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Iranian counterpart on (a) the arrest of Mojdeh Farah on September 9 and (b) the imprisonment of other Christian converts in that country.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of Ms Farah's case. We condemn Iran's restrictions against Freedom of Religion or Belief. Christians, particularly converts from Islam and other minority religions, continue to face severe repression in Iran. We are committed to holding Iran to account for its attacks against religious minorities, including at the UN Third Committee this month.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with (a) members of the United Nations Security Council and (b) other international partners to help support Rohingya people in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since 2017, the UK has provided over £48 million in aid including cash assistance and water, sanitation and hygiene services to the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in Rakhine state. We continue to work with members of the United Nations Security Council and international partners in calling for the protection of civilians and the need for unhindered humanitarian access to ensure support can reach the most vulnerable. In May 2024, the UK, along with international partners, released a statement calling on all armed actors to ensure the protection of civilians in Rakhine state. We will continue to work with international partners to ensure there is accountability for acts committed against the Rohingya, including through the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he is providing to help coffee farmers in the Global South shift to methods of production which are sustainable and resilient to climate-induced shocks.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The UK is delivering programmes to help farmers in the most climate vulnerable countries adapt and build resilience to climate change. For example, the UK-funded Partnerships for Forests programme supports coffee farmers in East Africa to adopt sustainable, climate-resilient practices beneficial for people, climate and nature. The Commercial Agriculture for Smallholder and Agribusiness (CASA) programme enables some 15,000 smallholder farmers in Tanzania to access markets for sustainably grown coffee. With UK support, the global agriculture research organisation CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) is developing technologies and tools to help farmers deal with climate change impacts on coffee. The UK's Just Rural Transition programme helps developing countries to take policy measures designed to enable farmers and rural communities to adopt sustainable agricultural practices.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he will take to ensure that funding provided to the Loss and Damage Finance Facility is additional to existing climate finance commitments.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
At COP27, the UK and all parties agreed to establish new funding arrangements for loss and damage, including the setup of a dedicated fund, to assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. It was agreed to establish a Transitional Committee (TC) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop the fund and funding arrangements by COP28. The UK is one of the twenty-four members of the TC and has actively engaged with its work, attending the first formal meeting in Egypt in March and associated workshops. We are committed to making a positive contribution to the aims and objectives of the Committee in the run up to COP28.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 mitigate the conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states in the Republic of Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We condemn the recent violence in the Blue Nile State and South Kordofan. We have met with the Sudanese authorities and urged them to allow unfettered humanitarian access; a message our Ambassador to Sudan reiterated in a tweet on 21 October. On 27 October, the UK along with partners, also secured an Any Other Business (AOB) discussion on the recent violence in the UN Security Council, to highlight the responsibility of the Sudanese authorities to protect civilians. During initial violence in Blue Nile State in July, the UK provided approximately £550,000 in humanitarian support to those affected in the region through our partners, including the multi-donor Sudan Humanitarian Fund. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and press Sudanese authorities to deliver their obligation to protect civilians.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the governments of (a) Eritrea and (b) Ethiopia on the attack on the Tigray region launched on 20 September 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The UK has noted the resumption of conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Government. There is no military solution to this conflict - only political negotiations can resolve it.
On 22 September, the Minister for Development, Vicky Ford MP, met Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke and discussed the impact of renewed conflict on humanitarian crisis and civilians in northern Ethiopia and reiterated calls for a truce, the restoration of humanitarian access to Tigray, and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops. I tweeted on 22 September reiterating these points. The British Embassies in Ethiopia and Eritrea are speaking regularly with their host Governments and, in the case of the Embassy in Ethiopia, the TPLF urging an end to the conflict.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that the 100 million covid-19 vaccines donated overseas will (a) have a shelf life of at least six months and (b) be supplied with all necessary parts, including syringes.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Decisions on donations are driven by the availability of vaccines from domestic supply. Once the Health Secretary is confident vaccines are available to donate, the Foreign Secretary prioritises how they are shared. The UK supply chain is carefully managed to ensure that vaccine doses are used and have impact as quickly as possible, either in the UK or beyond.
For all bilateral donations we have sought assurances that recipients have the capacity to roll-out the quantity of doses in line with the national vaccination programmes ahead of their expiry date. For donations through COVAX, the UK is working closely with COVAX and its international partners such as UNICEF to allocate vaccines according to need, facilitate the rapid delivery of doses and maximise the shelf life available to recipients. This includes the provision of regular forecasts to COVAX to assist planning. Vaccines delivered by COVAX are distributed in line with the World Health Organisation's 'equitable allocation framework', which helps ensure COVAX doses reach those countries most in need. The UK has worked closely with COVAX on its recently published investment opportunity, including its financing assessments for the purchase and distribution of ancillary vaccination equipment.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that Eritrean (a) individuals and (b) organisations who have had sanctions recently imposed on them by the US Treasury do not relocate to the UK.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We note the statement on 12 November by the US Treasury that they have sanctioned four entities and two individuals.
Individuals designated under either autonomous UK or UN sanctions for the purposes of a travel ban may not freely travel to the UK. Where Border Force are aware of individuals that pose a threat to the UK, they can and do refuse entry and (where legislation applies) refuse Authority to Carry prior to departure.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that Eritrean individuals and organisations who have had sanctions recently imposed on them by the US Treasury do not relocate to the UK.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We note the statement on 12 November by the US Treasury that they have sanctioned four entities and two individuals.
Individuals designated under either autonomous UK or UN sanctions for the purposes of a travel ban may not freely travel to the UK. Where Border Force are aware of individuals that pose a threat to the UK, they can and do refuse entry and (where legislation applies) refuse Authority to Carry prior to departure.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether officials in her Department have had discussion with their US counterparts on entities and individuals that have contributed to the crisis and conflict in Eritrea.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We continue to closely engage with the US and other partners in the international community on the full range of human rights issues in Ethiopia.
On 6 November we issued a joint statement with the US and 15 other countries welcoming the joint investigation report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ethiopia Human Rights Commission on Human Rights violations and abuses in Tigray. All parties to the conflict should accept and implement the findings and recommendations. It is critical that all those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law referenced in the report are held to account, and the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea should ensure there are credible investigations.