Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to support LGBT+ rights in Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK is committed to championing the human rights of LGBT+ people internationally, including in Africa. Our network of diplomatic missions work closely with partners, including governments and civil society, to defend LGBT+ people and ensure they can live their lives without violence and discrimination. In November, the UK launched a new LGBT+ rights programme, committing £40 million over 5 years to help reduce violence and discrimination, reform discriminatory legislation, and enable political, social and economic inclusion.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support community-led efforts in other countries that focus on HIV (1) prevention, (2) awareness, and (3) support for key affected populations, such as sex workers, LGBTQ+ communities, and people who use drugs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Addressing stigma and discrimination and ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services is critical to the global HIV response. Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma and discrimination and to improve access to HIV services, including prevention, awareness and support services, for key populations, particularly LGBT+ communities. The UK is a champion for human rights. Our £1 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria will support its Strategy which includes focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including legal barriers.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Shaws (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how are decisions made on, and what is the process for, resettling more Afghans from Pakistan who are facing expulsion in addition to the 3,000 already accepted under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme; and what steps they are taking in that regard, including on prioritising the 20 female Afghan judges who are in Pakistan.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Resettlement of eligible Afghans remains a top priority for this government. As of June 2023, around 24,600 vulnerable people affected by the events in Afghanistan have been brought to safety. This includes British Nationals and their families, Afghans who loyally served the UK and others identified as particularly at-risk, such as campaigners for women’s rights, human rights defenders, Chevening scholars, journalists, judges and members of the LGBT+ community.
We are aware of the recent Government of Pakistan announcements regarding Afghans in Pakistan and appreciate the impact of this on those awaiting resettlement. HMG has engaged intensively with the Government of Pakistan to secure assurances that none of those eligible under the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will be subject to deportation.
Visas continue to be issued to individuals eligible for the ACRS and ARAP schemes and flights are continuing to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
The ACRS is not open to applications. Instead, eligible individuals are prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through the existing pathways under this scheme. We are not certain which female Afghan judges the question refers to; however our Afghan schemes have been designed to be fair and equitable in identifying those in need of resettlement or relocation to the UK. As has been the practice under successive governments, the Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases.
We recognise there are many vulnerable individuals who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Whilst the UK maintains a generous resettlement offer, we must recognise that the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited, and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
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 help tackle (a) stigma and (b) discrimination against people living with HIV at an international level.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Addressing stigma and discrimination and ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services is critical to the global HIV response. The UK is a champion for human rights.
At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund's 2023-2028 Strategy, which includes a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.
Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund, UNAIDS and the Global Fund helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma and discrimination and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups, including LGBT+ people.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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
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: Conor Burns (Conservative - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what direct aid his Department has given to LGBTQ+ organisations in Uganda since the adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK works to tackle the root causes of human rights violations and abuses, including in Uganda. Since 2018, the UK has invested over £13.5 million in programmes to support the promotion and protection of LGBT+ rights globally, primarily in the Commonwealth. The British High Commission in Uganda is engaging with the LGBT+ community and human rights defenders to understand the impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Act on the safety of LGBT+ people and support their efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable communities.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 implications for his policies of the proposals for a bill restricting LGBT+ rights in Ghana; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing sanctions on people promoting this bill.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK continues to monitor the Private Members Bill [on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values], which would further criminalise consensual same-sex relationships and undermine the human rights and freedoms of LGBT+ people and allies.
The UK routinely encourages Ghana to confirm its opposition to all forms of discrimination and uphold the human rights provisions enshrined in Ghana's Constitution, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the principles of both the African and Commonwealth Charters. I [Andrew Mitchell] raised the Bill with partners in June 2023. We continue to consider options in the event the Bill is approved by Parliament and granted assent.
Asked by: Conor Burns (Conservative - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department's High Commission in Uganda has provided to the LGBT+ community in that country since the adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
I [Andrew Mitchell] issued a statement on 29 May strongly condemning the Government of Uganda's decision to sign the deeply discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law. I met with the Ugandan Foreign Minister on 14 March and 4 May 2023, and the Ugandan High Commissioner on 1 June 2023, 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 also spoken with the Foreign Minister, as has the Foreign Secretary with the High Commissioner. The British High Commission in Uganda has made the strength of the UK's opposition to this Act clear across its engagements with the Ugandan Government, and is engaging 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: Conor Burns (Conservative - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on LGBT+ Rights has had with the Ugandan Government on that country's Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
I [Andrew Mitchell] issued a statement on 29 May strongly condemning the Government of Uganda's decision to sign the deeply discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law. I met with the Ugandan Foreign Minister on 14 March and 4 May 2023, and the Ugandan High Commissioner on 1 June 2023, 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 also spoken with the Foreign Minister, as has the Foreign Secretary with the High Commissioner. The British High Commission in Uganda has made the strength of the UK's opposition to this Act clear across its engagements with the Ugandan Government, and is engaging 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: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 counterpart in Uganda on the safety of LGBT+ human rights activists in Uganda.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
I [Andrew Mitchell] issued a statement on 29 May strongly condemning the Government of Uganda's decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law. I spoke to the Ugandan Foreign Minister on 14 March and 4 May 2023 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 also spoken to the Ugandan Foreign Minister, as has the Foreign Secretary to the Ugandan High Commissioner to the UK. The UK has met with members of the LGBT+ community and human rights defenders to understand the impact of the Act on their safety and support their efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable communities.