Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent estimate has he made of the number of displaced Palestinians in (a) Türkiye, (b) Syria and (c) Jordan; and what steps he is taking to provide support to these countries.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has been clear that civilians in Gaza must be protected, and that Palestinians should not be forced to relocate from Gaza to third countries. Jordan hosts over 3.5 million refugees from regional conflicts, including 2.3 million Palestinian refugees registered with United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Jordan. UNRWA estimate that there are 438,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria. The Government of Türkiye reported 23,569 Palestinian refugees in Türkiye in December 2024. The UK contributed £41 million to UNRWA Financial Year 2024/25, supporting delivery of UNRWA's vital work ensuring Palestinians have access to humanitarian assistance across the region. We continue to call on all parties in Gaza to protect civilians and urge the Government of Israel to enable life-saving aid to enter Gaza at scale, and to enable the seriously ill and wounded to leave Gaza for medical care.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK and Palestinian strategic cooperation: memorandum of understanding, published on 28 April 2025, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to help build capacity in the Palestinian Authority to hold free and fair elections.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's (PA) commitment to delivering its ambitious and necessary 'National Program for Development and Reform'. As part of the UK-PA Memorandum of Understanding, the PA committed to convening Presidential and Parliamentary elections within the shortest feasible timeframe. The UK is spending £101 million this financial year in Official Development Assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territories directed at humanitarian relief, support for Palestinian economic development, and strengthening PA governance and reform. We continue to encourage the PA to work towards genuine and democratic elections within the shortest feasible timeframe.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Policy paper entitled UK and Palestinian strategic cooperation: memorandum of understanding’ published on 28 April 2025, what steps he is taking to discuss (a) freedom of expression, (b) media freedom and (c) civil liberties with the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's (PA) commitment to delivering its ambitious and necessary 'National Program for Development and Reform'. As part of the UK-PA Memorandum of Understanding (UK-PA MoU), the PA underlined the importance of democratic renewal, and committed to advancing this through widening freedom of expression, media freedom and civil liberties. As part of the UK-PA MoU, the PA committed to delivering its reforms as a matter of priority, and we continue to engage the PA on the delivery of these reforms.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK and Palestinian strategic cooperation: memorandum of understanding, published on 28 April 2025, what expectations he has on education reforms required from the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's (PA) commitment to delivering its ambitious and necessary 'National Program for Development and Reform'. As part of the UK-PA Memorandum of Understanding, the PA underlined its commitment to delivering its reform agenda in full as a matter of priority. As President Abbas has publicly outlined, the PA is committed to the modernisation of the education sector, including the development of a curriculum that is free from incitement according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standards. We are clear that any incitement to hatred or violence is unacceptable and has no place in education and support the PA in carrying out these reforms.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support Kenya’s security priorities as part of the newly announced strategic partnership.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Strategic Partnership will strengthen our joint response to regional terrorism, illicit finance, cyber attacks and organised crime, to keep Kenyans and British Nationals safe. This is underpinned by the UK-Kenya Security Compact which was also signed during the recent Presidential visit to the UK. The renewed Compact is designed to address both traditional and emerging security threats. Priorities include tackling risks from digital spaces and new technologies, reducing irregular migration, and countering illicit finance. The partnership will continue to build on its strong foundation, ensuring that previous achievements are sustained and that new challenges are met with a coordinated, forward-looking approach.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his expected outcomes are of the UK-Kenya strategic partnership on (a) trade and (b) economic cooperation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The new Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership 2025-2030 provides a comprehensive framework to progress our shared objectives, strengthening the bilateral relationship and delivering growth for the UK and Kenya. This new partnership will potentially deliver £1 billion through exports, engineering jobs and defence manufacturing jobs in Northampton and County Durham. We have also agreed with Kenya to explore a new Digital Trading Agreement, and to aim to double trade by 2030 in areas including financial services, digital and technology, and defence and security. The Partnership has also seen Lloyd's of London enter the Nairobi insurance market, which will be a gateway to the East Africa Market, valued up to £0.5 billion (Kshs.88billion).
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps with his international counterparts to provide security to humanitarian agencies in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns in the strongest terms attacks on aid workers in Sudan. The warring parties are required to uphold international humanitarian and human rights obligations and to implement relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), including UNSCR 2736 (2024) on El Fasher, Darfur. In our recent public statements, we have reiterated the importance of the warring parties acting in accordance with such commitments. In June, the UK signed a joint statement with 30 other donors condemning an attack on a UN aid convoy, calling for the warring parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
On 24 April, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement following renewed attacks in El Fasher, calling for the warring parties to give humanitarian actors the security guarantees needed to deliver aid rapidly and safely, including through a 72-hour pause in fighting. The UK is also providing financial support to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to enable their human rights monitoring and reporting. In October 2024, we led the renewal of the UN Fact Finding Mission for Sudan's mandate as part of the Sudan 'Core Group' in the Human Rights Council to hold those harming humanitarian agencies to account.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is he taking to help tackle (a) sexual and (b) gender-based violence in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon. member to her previous question, 53517, to which our response outlined the UK's commitment to tackling gender-based violence in Sudan, and Ministerial engagement on the issue. Furthermore, through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutiliation programme, UK funding supports work on protection, prevention and care services for survivors of sexual violence. The UK funded Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme, has provided sexual and reproductive services to women, girls, men as well as persons living with disabilities, with UK aid delivered in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other contexts. We have also enhanced our atrocity risk monitoring, including monitoring of conflict-related sexual violence and are working with UN and non-governmental organisation partners to provide safe spaces, clinical treatment, dignity kits and psycho-social services for survivors.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the FCDO Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership: Joint Statement, published on 2 July 2025, what budget has been allocated for the Nairobi Railway City project; in which financial years the cost will be incurred; and whether this will be current or capital expenditure.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Nairobi Railway City Project is a Government of Kenya funded project. The UK government has allocated £2 million to provide Kenya with technical assistance to help it structure, phase, manage and deliver the series of infrastructure projects that will make up the 438-acre Nairobi Railway City Project. The first of these projects involves the construction of a new Central Railway Station and public realm. For this first project on top of our technical assistance the Government of Kenya is considering raising financing to construct the station with the support of potentially £150 million in funding through UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK's Export Credit Agency. As this project is in its early stages, the financial years in which the costs will be incurred, and the type of expenditure are to be yet confirmed.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 potential merits of using asset-based community development strategies to support displaced people in South Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In South Sudan, we support the World Food Programme's asset creation and livelihoods interventions, which help local communities to become more self-sufficient and resilient. This includes constructing wells, roads and supporting small businesses. We are also supporting an NGO-led project THRIVE (Transforming Household Resilience Through Inclusive Economic Development in South Sudan), which is helping vulnerable pastoral communities to sustain livelihoods and strengthen the markets they rely on. For example, this includes supporting farmer cooperatives, sustainable tree nurseries and cold storage of fisheries. In addition, we work with the International Organization for Migration to support people displaced by conflict or natural disasters. Together, we help them find safer, more stable places to live and rebuild their lives. These efforts align with our broader objectives of sustainable development and conflict recovery in South Sudan.