Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2022 to Question 45513 on Nnamdi Kanu, whether his Department has provided consular assistance to Mr Kanu in the last 12 months; and what recent discussions he has had with his Nigerian counterpart on Mr Kanu's case.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO officials continue to provide consular support to Mr Kanu, and visited him most recently on 15 August 2023. Consular officials also remain in regular contact with representatives of Mr Kanu in the United Kingdom and in Nigeria. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Kanu's case with the then Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs on 14 March 2023. The British High Commissioner in Abuja also raises his case regularly with the Nigerian authorities, most recently in July 2023.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
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 provide consular support to Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson during his imprisonment in Myanmar; and whether he has made representations to the authorities in Myanmar on this case.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the arbitrary detention of politicians, civil society members and journalists by the military regime, including the former President of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson. On 18 April, the UK Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief called for his immediate release and for the release of all those arbitrarily detained in Myanmar. Although the UK has had no political engagement with the military regime since the coup in February 2021, we will continue to call publicly for the military regime to release all those arbitrarily detained. British Embassy Yangon is monitoring the case closely. The FCDO provides consular assistance to British nationals overseas, we do not provide assistance to foreign nationals outside the UK.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
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 protect the safety of LGBT+ human rights activists in Uganda.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government strongly condemns the Government of Uganda's decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law. To underline the strength of our opposition to the Act and highlight its impacts on the safety of LGBT+ people in Uganda, the Prime Minister has raised it with the Ugandan Foreign Minister, the Foreign Secretary with the Ugandan High Commissioner, and I have raised it with both. The British High Commission in Uganda remains engaged with the LGBT+ community and human rights defenders to understand the impact of the Act on the safety of LGBT+ people and support their efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable communities.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to coordinate sanctions on Russian-origin (a) diamonds, (b) copper, (c) aluminium and (d) nickel exports with (i) the EU and (ii) other allies.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2022 the UK increased import duties by an additional 35 percentage points on a variety of precious and semiprecious stones and metals from Russia and Belarus including rough and polished diamonds. We also designated the Russian state-owned company Alrosa.
Our announcement at the G7 in May goes further and we will legislate later this year to end imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel. As with all our Sanctions measures, we continue to work closely with our G7 partners to further align and coordinate their implementation and enforcement.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to block imports of Russian-origin (a) diamonds, (b) copper, (c) aluminium and (d) nickel.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2022 the UK increased import duties by an additional 35 percentage points on a variety of precious and semiprecious stones and metals from Russia and Belarus including rough and polished diamonds. We also designated the Russian state-owned company Alrosa.
Our announcement at the G7 in May goes further and we will legislate later this year to end imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel. As with all our Sanctions measures, we continue to work closely with our G7 partners to further align and coordinate their implementation and enforcement.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Latest figures show that 13% of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) staff have disabilities which is line with the rates of the UK Economically Active Population. Regular analysis of diversity data is conducted to understand the demographics of our workforce, enable strategic decision making and review the impact of people policies. FCDO secured accreditation as a Disability Confident Leader in July 2021 and has a designated team, alongside staff networks that support workplace reasonable adjustments and Assistive Technology for employees in line with the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has a Ministerial disability champion.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I [Minister Rutley] am the Ministerial Disability Champion for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 103614 on Disability, when the FCDO Disability Inclusion Board is due to meet next.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK committed in the National Disability Strategy to establish a new FCDO External Disability Board. The first meeting of the Board took place in December 2021 and the next meeting is planned for May 2022.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published July 2021, what recent steps her Department has taken to (a) encourage and support workplace disability networks, (b) achieve and maintain the highest level of Disability Confident accreditation, (c) ensure responsive and timely support to meet workplace adjustment needs and (d) develop and embed flexible working.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a number of enthusiastic workplace disability networks. They are the Disability Inclusion and Awareness Network; Parents for Children with Disabilities; Cancer Support Network; Mental Health Wellbeing and Listening Network and FCDO Carers. The value of the networks is recognised in the FCDO. We encourage those who play key roles to include this as part of their performance objectives. The FCDO Board consults with staff networks to understand and address issues faced by different groups of employees.
Building on the accreditations of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, the FCDO secured accreditation as a Disability Confident Leader in July 2021. We do not take this accreditation for granted and sense checked our application with our networks to ensure it reflected the lived experience of our employees.
The support offer for our employees on workplace adjustments is set out in the Diversity and Inclusion section of the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts 2020-2021, found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019938/FCDO_annual_report_and_accounts_2020_to_2021_accessible.pdf.
Flexible working is encouraged for all employees, including those with disabilities and long term conditions, and we offer flexible working as a default in job adverts. Hiring managers are required to justify any opt out from offering flexible working.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has considered the submission made by International Truth and Justice Project on the potential sanctioning of Sri Lankan General Shavendra Silva under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Sanctions are one response among a number of diplomatic tools we can deploy around the world as part of a broader political strategy in order to change or send a political signal regarding particular behaviours. 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. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is grateful for the submission by the International Truth and Justice Project in relation to General Shavendra Silva. We will continue to consider targets globally, guided by the objectives of the human rights sanctions regime and the evidence. However, it is not appropriate to speculate on who may be designated in the future, as to do so could reduce their impact.