Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the safety of UK humanitarian workers in Lebanon.

Any British national in Lebanon, regardless of the purpose of their stay, is entitled to consular support from the British Embassy. We provide detailed and up-to-date travel advice on gov.uk, which gives useful information for British Nationals to inform their personal security arrangements.

The UK funds a humanitarian programme in Lebanon and while we do not assume duty of care for our implementing partners, we perform due diligence to understand their security arrangements. There is explicit criteria in grant or commercial contracts which outline HMG's expectations of suppliers in terms of duty of care and security provision for their staff, for example regarding safety briefings and risk mitigation plans.

We urge all parties involved in the conflict in Lebanon to allow humanitarian workers to carry out their work safely, and we continue to do so even with the ceasefire in place. More broadly, the FCDO supports the safety of humanitarian workers by investing in protective measures that our partners need to work safely, championing international humanitarian law, and using UK seats at key multilateral fora to raise awareness and promote accountability. The UK was proud to co-sponsor and vote in favour of UN Security Council resolution 2730, which calls on states to protect humanitarian personnel, and we support its full implementation in Lebanon and around the world.