Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of British nationals travelling to Israel to fight in the Israel Defence Forces.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities. This includes the Israel Defence Force.
With respect to the current conflict in Gaza, Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 makes it an offence for a British subject to enlist in the military of a foreign state at war with another foreign state with which the UK is at peace. That prohibition does not extend, however, to enlistment in a foreign government's forces which are engaged in a civil war or combating terrorism or internal uprisings. The Occupied Palestinian Territories are not currently recognised as a state by the UK. The 1870 Act therefore does not apply in this instance.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have for describing socialism and communism as "united by a set of grievance narratives" in the latest version of the Home Office online Prevent duty training modules amended in July 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Prevent plays a vital role in tackling radicalisation, seeking to intervene early where somebody is at risk of becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism.
The Prevent duty training service is continually reviewed to align with the recommendations made in the Independent Review of Prevent, new Prevent Duty Guidance and CONTEST 2023. The latest update includes removal of the reference describing socialism and communism as "united by a set of grievance narratives" from the training module.
We will continue to improve and update the training modules to ensure that we can keep the public safe.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the livelihoods of Palestinian refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon of the decision to suspend aid to the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK provided £35 million to UNRWA this financial year, including an uplift of £16 million for the Gaza humanitarian response, all of which was disbursed before the recent allegations came to light. No more British funding is due this financial year and we have paused any future funding of UNRWA..
Indeed, we are appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.
We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again. We are working with allies to try to bring this situation to a rapid conclusion. I have discussed this with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on several occasions, most recently on 4 April.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic support his Department is providing to the Pakistani Government to help deescalate tensions in North Waziristan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Pakistan faces a range of challenges to its security and stability, including terrorism. We support efforts by the Governments of Pakistan and its neighbours to constructively build stability in the region, and UK assistance to Pakistan has focussed on protecting civilians, strengthening rule of law and developing civilian counter-terror institutions.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the new counter-extremism centre of excellence will take to collaborate with the (a) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and (b) Home Office on existing counter terrorism (i) programmes and (ii) operations.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The new counter-extremism centre of excellence will be housed within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
DLUHC is working with the Home Office, as well as several other Government departments, to tackle extremism head-on. The new centre of excellence will act as a world-leading authority on best practice, data and research and provide leadership for departments’ operationalisation and implementation of the new extremism definition, cross-government standards and extremism-related due diligence process. It will also become home to new counter-extremism assessment and analytical functions and capabilities.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations have been undertaken by his Department's professional standards unit in each year since 2015, broken down into the categories of (a) immigration, borders and citizenship, (b) policing and (c) counter-terrorism.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any role in selecting and overseeing those local partner organisations of the Norwegian Refugee Council that receive money donated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and, if so, what procedures are used.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a leading international NGO and a trusted aid partner to the FCDO providing life-saving support to vulnerable populations around the world. The FCDO has a longstanding relationship with NRC, which is headquartered and registered in Oslo. NRC has a UK presence and was registered as a UK charity in December 2023.
FCDO funds go directly to NRC, which in turn may provide funds to its local partner organisations. The exact selection process and any HMG involvement will vary according to the programme and context. The FCDO carries out due diligence assessments of partners it funds directly, including the NRC. The FCDO's Programme Operating Framework and associated guidance enables staff to ensure that FCDO partners in receipt of aid funds are operating in compliance with sanctions and counter-terrorism legislation. The FCDO due diligence process should consider whether partners have procedures in place to manage the risk of aid diversion in their delivery chains, such as the risk of support to sanctioned entities or proscribed terrorist groups.
We are not aware of any funds provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the Norwegian Refugee Council being transferred to local partner organisations that have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government of Israel.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, before making donations to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), they carry out counter-terrorism vetting of the NRC and its local partner organisations; and whether they are aware of any counter-terrorism vetting by the NRC itself of its local partner organisations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a leading international NGO and a trusted aid partner to the FCDO providing life-saving support to vulnerable populations around the world. The FCDO has a longstanding relationship with NRC, which is headquartered and registered in Oslo. NRC has a UK presence and was registered as a UK charity in December 2023.
FCDO funds go directly to NRC, which in turn may provide funds to its local partner organisations. The exact selection process and any HMG involvement will vary according to the programme and context. The FCDO carries out due diligence assessments of partners it funds directly, including the NRC. The FCDO's Programme Operating Framework and associated guidance enables staff to ensure that FCDO partners in receipt of aid funds are operating in compliance with sanctions and counter-terrorism legislation. The FCDO due diligence process should consider whether partners have procedures in place to manage the risk of aid diversion in their delivery chains, such as the risk of support to sanctioned entities or proscribed terrorist groups.
We are not aware of any funds provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the Norwegian Refugee Council being transferred to local partner organisations that have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government of Israel.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they fund directly any local partner organisations of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a leading international NGO and a trusted aid partner to the FCDO providing life-saving support to vulnerable populations around the world. The FCDO has a longstanding relationship with NRC, which is headquartered and registered in Oslo. NRC has a UK presence and was registered as a UK charity in December 2023.
FCDO funds go directly to NRC, which in turn may provide funds to its local partner organisations. The exact selection process and any HMG involvement will vary according to the programme and context. The FCDO carries out due diligence assessments of partners it funds directly, including the NRC. The FCDO's Programme Operating Framework and associated guidance enables staff to ensure that FCDO partners in receipt of aid funds are operating in compliance with sanctions and counter-terrorism legislation. The FCDO due diligence process should consider whether partners have procedures in place to manage the risk of aid diversion in their delivery chains, such as the risk of support to sanctioned entities or proscribed terrorist groups.
We are not aware of any funds provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the Norwegian Refugee Council being transferred to local partner organisations that have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government of Israel.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are aware of any funds donated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the Norwegian Refugee Council being transferred to local partner organisations that have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government of Israel.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a leading international NGO and a trusted aid partner to the FCDO providing life-saving support to vulnerable populations around the world. The FCDO has a longstanding relationship with NRC, which is headquartered and registered in Oslo. NRC has a UK presence and was registered as a UK charity in December 2023.
FCDO funds go directly to NRC, which in turn may provide funds to its local partner organisations. The exact selection process and any HMG involvement will vary according to the programme and context. The FCDO carries out due diligence assessments of partners it funds directly, including the NRC. The FCDO's Programme Operating Framework and associated guidance enables staff to ensure that FCDO partners in receipt of aid funds are operating in compliance with sanctions and counter-terrorism legislation. The FCDO due diligence process should consider whether partners have procedures in place to manage the risk of aid diversion in their delivery chains, such as the risk of support to sanctioned entities or proscribed terrorist groups.
We are not aware of any funds provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the Norwegian Refugee Council being transferred to local partner organisations that have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government of Israel.