Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on taking steps to help reduce the influence of Iran on Palestinian terror groups.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government regularly assesses the impact of Iran's destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to several militant and proscribed groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and escalates already high tensions. We work closely with our partners to hold Iran to account, and we currently have over 350 sanctions in place against the Iranian regime.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what new counter-terrorist measures are being proposed to deal with the threat from IS and al-Qaeda against the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On Tuesday 18 July, the Home Office published an updated version of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.
This strategy identifies the persistent and evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and sets out our response to it working closely with international allies and partners. The document is available at gov.uk
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that ISIS loses any capability to raise funds in the UK through the use of (1) non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and (2) other ways to exploit NFT technology.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The government has implemented various measures to combat terrorist financing, disrupt funding of terrorist groups, and address the illicit crypto use and emerging fintech.
This includes extending the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) to the cryptoasset sector in January 2020. The UK assesses cryptoasset Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance (ML/TF) risks case-by-case, allowing the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to regulate the rapidly evolving industry. Firms involved in activities that are described as involving Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) will be supervised and subject to enforcement, if they deal with cryptoassets as defined in the regulations.
Separately, the traditional art market is regulated for AML purposes so businesses dealing with NFTs which could reasonably be classified as “works of art” and meet the wider relevant criteria for supervision by HMRC, are required to comply with AML regulations to combat terrorist financing.
To prevent terrorist organisations such as ISIS exploiting blockchain technology, the UK is implementing the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF's) 'Travel Rule') which enhances information sharing and retention for cryptoasset transfers to detect terrorist financing.
We are also updating UK CT legislation with the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Bill to prevent terrorist groups from exploiting NFT technology. This empowers law enforcement to seize, detain, freeze, and forfeit terrorist cryptoassets, with the revised definition of cryptoassets encompassing various technologies that utilize cryptography and distributed ledger technology, including NFTs.
The UK continues to engage internationally to mitigate illicit finance risks associated with cryptoassets including NFTs, and constantly reviews legislative tools to ensure we can keep pace with evolving terrorist financing threats.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2023 to Question HL6976 on Sahel: Security, whether his Department has provided (a) technical support and (b) training to the Directorate General of External Research in Cameroon.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK is committed to working with regional allies in West Africa to tackle violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin. Cameroon is an important partner in this effort. We provide training to the Directorate General of External Research operating in the Far North of Cameroon in order to strengthen their capacity to counter the terrorist threat posed by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Israel on the security impact of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Answered by James Heappey
The Secretary of State for Defence has engaged with the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on a range of issues.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Ukraine on the security impact of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Answered by James Heappey
The Secretary of State for Defence regularly holds discussions with Defence Minister Reznikov on a range of issues.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor whether armed forces personnel trained by the UK in Cameroon have been transferred to the (a) north west and (b) south west regions of that country.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK is committed to supporting the Government of Cameroon in its efforts to counter the terrorist threat posed by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa, which threatens both the region and wider international security. UK training to the Cameroonian military is specifically provided to units that will only be deployed to the far north of Cameroon. Records are kept on all trainees to monitor for any potential diversion of UK-trained units. We keep our security cooperation under constant review.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL5827), how many of the 32 individuals convicted of terrorism offenses were investigated for sexual violence against Yazidi women and children.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Over 32 individuals have been convicted of terrorism offences in British courts after previously travelling to the Iraq/Syria theatre of conflict as Daesh fighters. We hold no information on how many of those were investigated for sexual violence against Yazidi women and children.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 provide support to people testifying against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians. The UK led the UN Security Council to establish the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/ISIL (UNITAD) which has enabled the Government of Iraq to support people testifying against Daesh. We also advocated for the passing of the Yazidi Survivors Law, an important first step toward assistance and justice for survivors of sexual violence by Daesh. The UK is committed to helping Iraq fully implement the legislation, including providing funding support to the Directorate of Yazidi Affairs. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met Yazidi communities and religious and political leaders to hear their experiences and reiterate UK support during his recent visit to Iraq.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll and Bute)
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 international counterparts on steps to help secure the release of Yazidi women and girls abducted by Deash.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Yazidi women and girls in Syria and Iraq. The UK led the UN Security Council to establish the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/ISIL (UNITAD) which has supported the Government of Iraq look for missing Yazidi women and girls. We continue to use our position at the UN to raise the plight of the Yazidi community, most recently at a UNITAD council session on 7 June.
We also advocated for the passing of the Iraqi Yazidi Survivors Law, an important step toward assistance and justice for survivors of sexual violence by Daesh. The UK is committed to helping Iraq fully implement the legislation, including providing funding support to the Directorate of Yazidi Affairs. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met Yazidi communities and leaders to hear their experiences and reiterate UK support during his recent visit to Iraq.