Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review how the European Convention on Human Rights has been implemented in practice.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security checks her Department undertakes on refugees coming to the UK from Gaza.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is supporting a group of Chevening Scholars and fully funded scholarship students to depart from Gaza to take up university places in the UK in Autumn for the 2025/26 academic year. The Government has also committed to evacuate a limited number of sick and injured children out of Gaza to receive specialist treatment in NHS hospitals across the UK. These individuals are not refugees and are not entering the UK using refugee resettlement routes.
All visa applicants are required to provide their biographic and biometric data to enable a range of security checks to be completed, including criminality checks.
Robust security checks are being undertaken on all individuals who enter the UK through this process. Biometrics are collected as part of the visa application process and prior to travel to the UK.
The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by terrorists, by criminals and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists. The Home Office works with both law enforcement and wider government partners to ensure appropriate action is taken before travel or at the border when individuals of concern are identified. It would not be appropriate to provide further information about the nature and scope of security checks.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children were granted refugee family reunion visas in the year ending 30 June 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on refugee family reunion in the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release'. Data on refugee family reunion visa grants, by age group, is published in table Fam_D01 of the 'family reunion visa grants detailed datasets'. The latest data relate to June 2025.
In the year ending June 2025 11,641 children under the age of 18 were granted a family reunion visa - this figure includes both accompanied and unaccompanied children.
We do not publish data for the number of unaccompanied children who have been granted family reunion visas. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential long-term impacts of the conflict in Gaza on children in Gaza's (a) health and (b) education.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Israeli restrictions on aid have created a man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Since 1 July, around 400 people have died from malnutrition, including at least 119 children. More than 132,000 children under the age of five are estimated to be at risk of dying from hunger by June of next year. Israel must urgently lift restrictions and facilitate a surge of aid into Gaza to prevent further hunger and malnutrition related deaths. On 21 July, the UK announced £60 million in humanitarian aid, with a further £15 million announced on 1 September, to support healthcare, food and water which includes vital funding to the The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and to treat patients at UK-Med field hospitals in Gaza. It is estimated that over 650,000 school-age children have lost two years of in person formal education. UNRWA is continuing to provide learning services in Gaza in Temporary Learning Spaces and through its distance learning initiative. To date, more than 59,000 children, have benefited from learning and recreational activities, established across 67 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters.
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 information his Department holds on the amount of humanitarian aid that reached (a) Chad, (b) South Sudan, (c) Egypt, (d) Ethiopia, (e) the Central African Republic and (f) other neighbouring countries to Sudan for supporting Sudanese refugees in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Sudan is currently experiencing the world's largest displacement crisis, with over 12 million people displaced since the conflict began. As part of the UK's £120 million Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment this financial year, humanitarian assistance is being provided to Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries through key UN agencies such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF. In May, Baroness Chapman announced £36 million in support for over 260,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. The UK also supports Education Cannot Wait, which is delivering safe learning spaces and psychosocial support for 200,000 vulnerable children in refugee and host communities across Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Uganda. In total, UK aid reached over 700,000 people affected by conflict in Chad, South Sudan, Libya, and Uganda in the last financial year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support access to education for children fleeing Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 21 July, the former Foreign Secretary announced £20 million of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to carry out essential services for Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This funding will provide emergency food, shelter and other support for over 2 million people, as well as support UNRWA's wider work across the region, enabling the Agency to restore some education services for hundreds of thousands of children and expand psychosocial support for traumatised families. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education must also be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to work urgently with international partners, including the UN, so there is no disruption to this vital work. UK support has meant that to date, at least 14,000 children have been given access to education materials and welfare support. We have provided £5.6 million to the Global Partnership for Education to support the educational needs of children and young people in Gaza and the West Bank. Our support to Education Cannot Wait is also supporting children's education via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Israel, (b) Lebanon, (c) Jordan and (d) Egypt on access to education for children fleeing Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 21 July, the former Foreign Secretary announced £20 million of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to carry out essential services for Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This funding will provide emergency food, shelter and other support for over 2 million people, as well as support UNRWA's wider work across the region, enabling the Agency to restore some education services for hundreds of thousands of children and expand psychosocial support for traumatised families. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education must also be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to work urgently with international partners, including the UN, so there is no disruption to this vital work. UK support has meant that to date, at least 14,000 children have been given access to education materials and welfare support. We have provided £5.6 million to the Global Partnership for Education to support the educational needs of children and young people in Gaza and the West Bank. Our support to Education Cannot Wait is also supporting children's education via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.
Asked by: Lord Sarfraz (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of sexual violence towards Rohingya women and girls in Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK has been actively engaged in addressing the humanitarian situation in Cox's Bazar and closely monitoring levels of need and insecurity. We regularly engage with the Interim Government in Bangladesh about security in Rohingya refugee camps and request them to take action to improve the protection environment. In June, during Chief Adviser Yunus' visit to the UK, the then Minister for the Indo-Pacific discussed the situation of Rohingya refugees. UK funding (over £420 million since 2017) is providing community-based protection services for women and children.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterparts on levels of (a) child malnutrition and (b) access to baby formula in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, and the suffering of so many children there is heartbreaking. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported on 15 July that one in ten children screened in UNRWA medical facilities is malnourished. We highlighted the critical situation for Gaza's children at a session of the UN Security Council which we co-called on 16 July, and at the International Development Committee on 16 July. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar about the humanitarian situation in Gaza on 21 July. The UK continues to demand that a full and unhindered resumption of aid into Gaza takes place immediately. Israel must immediately allow the UN and aid partners to safely deliver aid at scale and in line with humanitarian principles.