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Written Question
Armed Conflict: International Law
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what (a) staff and (b) legal resources have been committed to the International Humanitarian Law Compliance Assessment Process Cell in his Department.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The FCDO currently has a small bespoke capability, including legal resources, to look specifically at international humanitarian law issues in the context of the Israel/Gaza conflict. This is part of a larger team in the UK and across our overseas network actively delivering the Government's goals of ending the conflict and reaching a lasting peace.


Written Question
Sleeping Rough: Foreign Nationals
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of people sleeping rough that are not British nationals.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The annual rough sleeping snapshot provides information about the estimated number of people sleeping rough on a single night between 1 October and 30 November each year. This is data from local authorities and includes some basic demographic details including nationality. Details can be found at: Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2023 - GOV.UK.


Written Question
Gaza: Israel
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Michael Ellis (Conservative - Northampton North)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the analysis of casualty figures in Gaza by the Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, published on 7 March 2024.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Like many of our partners, we routinely use reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to monitor daily figures for casualties in Gaza. OCHA rely on reporting from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. Casualty figures are only one data point of many we use to understand the scale of the conflict and its impact on civilians. Satellite imagery of building damage, eye-witness accounts from hospitals and data on living conditions all feed into our assessment.


Written Question
Israel: Arms Trade
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether there are pending applications for arms export licences for arms to Israel.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent Official Statistics cover the period 1 April - 30 June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 July - 30 September 2023 will be published after April 2024 and information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 October - 31 March 2024 will be published later this year.


Written Question
Gaza: Israel
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has sought recent legal advice on the Israeli government's compliance with (a) international law and (b) the International Court of Justice’s decision in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) in the context of trends in the level of food insecurity in Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law. We act in accordance with that advice. We are clear that as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has to make sure that humanitarian aid including food, water and shelter is available to people in Gaza.


Written Question
Visas: Palestinians
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of calls for a Palestinian visa or Gaza family scheme to enable Palestinians in Gaza to be reunited with relatives in the UK and access temporary sanctuary.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Israel and Gaza closely to ensure that it is able to respond appropriately. UKVI is working closely with the FCDO in supporting family members of British nationals evacuated from Gaza who require a visa, signposting the necessary steps and expediting appointments at the Visa Application Centre.

British citizens and those with settled status in the UK, together with their foreign national dependants, (spouse, unmarried/civil partner, child under 18), may come to the UK provided that they have valid travel documents and existing permission to enter or remain in the UK; or are non-visa nationals. They must also pass appropriate security checks.

The Government allows individuals with protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with or join them here through our refugee family reunion policy, provided they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin to seek protection.

There are additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa.


Written Question
UNRWA: Finance
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what proportion of UK aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is spent on (a) food, (b) medicines, (c) other essentials, (d) salaries and (e) other costs for (i) UNRWA personnel and (ii) other employees.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

UK funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was disbursed before the allegations that UNRWA employees were involved in the appalling 7 October terror attack against Israel came to light. No more British funding is due this financial year and we are pausing any future funding of UNRWA.

We provided £19 million of unearmarked funding this financial year to UNRWA's programme budget. This enabled UNRWA to deliver education, health, relief and social services and protection to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The UK also provided £16 million to UNRWA's Flash Appeal in response to the Gaza Crisis, supporting UNRWA to deliver humanitarian assistance, food, shelter, and non-food items for refugees in Gaza.

Our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has no impact on the UK's contribution to the humanitarian response.

Our commitment to trebling aid to Gaza still stands and we are supporting partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.


Written Question
UNRWA: Finance
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what proportion of his Department's aid to Gaza is channelled through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

UK funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was disbursed before the allegations that UNRWA employees were involved in the appalling 7 October terror attack against Israel came to light. No more British funding is due this financial year and we are pausing any future funding of UNRWA.

The UK provided £16 million this financial year to UNRWA's Flash Appeal in response to the Gaza Crisis, which constitutes 22% of the UK's total humanitarian allocations to Gaza. Our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has had no impact on the UK's contribution to the humanitarian response. We are doing everything we can to get more aid into Gaza as quickly as possible by land, sea and air, working with partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.


Written Question
Darfur: Sexual Offences
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support his Department provides for the survivors of rape and sexual abuse by Arab militias in West Darfur.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, there has been a significant escalation of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan. The UK has pivoted our programme delivery to focus on GBV prevention, and protection and care for rape survivors. We have also integrated specific measures to address conflict-related sexual violence into the humanitarian system, making use of Women's Centres, mobile clinics and internally displaced person's gathering points, for community engagement and service provision. In 2023, over 83,399 consultation providing sexual and reproductive health services were delivered, over 104,225 people were given mental health and psychological support, and over 9,000 people benefitted from risk mitigation and response services.


Written Question
British Nationals Abroad: Sexual Offences
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of trends in the number of British citizens who have reported being victims of sex crimes in foreign countries over the last five years; and what support his Department provides to those people (a) in situ and (b) on their return to the UK.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO data for the past five years on the number of rape and sexual assault cases where consular assistance was provided to British nationals is presented in the table below.

The FCDO takes all reports of rape and sexual assault seriously. Consular staff are available to provide immediate support by telephone 24/7 and will try to see a victim to provide in person assistance as soon as possible, depending on location and timing. The FCDO's public guide "Support for British National Abroad" outlines the support available, including through organisations funded by FCDO to support victims on their return to the UK, where the FCDO can continue to support victims in relation to any ongoing investigation abroad.

Calendar Year

Number of Rape and Sexual Assault Cases where consular assistance was provided to British nationals (Total)

2019

365

2020

137

2021

138

2022

343

2023

388*

* Figures from 16 October 2023 are subject to a different reporting methodology due to a change in case management system.