Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to work with partner countries neighbouring Ukraine to help ensure that citizens of African states resident in Ukraine (a) are able to seek refuge and (b) are not subject to discrimination; and what support she is offering to African states making coordinated efforts to evacuate their citizens from Ukraine.

Over 2 million people have left Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion and more will do so as long as President Putin continues his reprehensible and needless attack. We are concerned about credible reports of discrimination against people of African, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds amongst those seeking to leave Ukraine. The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or race. We have pledged £395 million of aid, which includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance and deployed UK humanitarian experts to support Ukraine's neighbours, who are receiving and supporting refugees fleeing Ukraine, through providing logistics advice and analysis of needs on the ground.