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  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported abduction of girls for arranged marriages in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are seriously concerned about reports of abduction of girls for forced marriage in Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure it guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their gender, faith or ethnicity. We raise the issues of women’s rights and religious freedom on a regular basis at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan and press for greater protection of all citizens’ rights. The Girl Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in July 2014, included a commitment to end child, early and forced marriage.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to communicate the requirements of the European Commission’s Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, published on 11 November 2015, to (a) businesses, (b) importers and (c) consumers.

    George Eustice

    The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about the persecution of religious and other minorities in Pakistan, including Christians. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised religious freedom and human rights with Interior Minister Nisar. In June, I conveyed our concern about minorities in Pakistan to the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK.

    We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to meet its international obligations to uphold the human rights of all its citizens. Our concerns about minorities in Pakistan are documented in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual Human Rights Report.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of respect for human rights in Nepal.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We note the milestone represented by the new Nepalese Constitution and welcome the adoption of 31 different rights, which include rights for women and Dalits. However, we are concerned about discrimination against women in the citizenship provisions and the violence which followed the adoption of the Constitution. We welcome progress on Nepal’s implementation of the recommendations made in 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review on transitional justice but remain concerned about amnesty provisions and the absence of legislation to criminalise torture.

    We issued a statement and a series of recommendations to this effect on 4 November 2015, at the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/uk-statement-on-nepal-at-the-23rd-session-of-the-universal-periodic-review-geneva-2-to-13-november-2015

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  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 10566, what recent steps he has taken to encourage all parties in the conflict in Yemen to allow freedom of access for humanitarian and commercial supplies.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    During his visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) made clear the need for all sides to take all reasonable steps to facilitate access for humanitarian aid, and the importance of the non-politicisation of aid, as well as the need to facilitate access for commercial goods. We welcome the commitments of the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister and Yemeni President Hadi in recent weeks that all of Yemen’s ports are open and that commercial ships, including fuel tankers, are now arriving in Yemeni ports, including Hodeidah. We are using diplomatic channels to urge the Saudi and Yemeni Governments to ensure commercial access is sustained. The Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) have expressed the UK’s readiness to support the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) and DFID has committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Diplomatic Service personnel were employed in Asia in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There were the following number of Diplomatic Service personnel in Asia:

    2015 – 419 (total FCO employees – 487)
    2014 – 437 (total FCO employees – 519)
    2013 – 479 (total FCO employees – 552)
    2012 – 471 (total FCO employees – 535)
    2011 – 460 (total FCO employees – 535)

    The reduction in Diplomatic Service personnel reflects the localisation of support grade roles, which are now filled by locally engaged staff.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Saudi Arabian counterpart calling for the release of Mr Ashraf Fayadh who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on 17 November 2015 on charges of apostasy.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of, and concerned about, the case of Mr Ashraf Fayadh (who is Palestinian). We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and strongly support freedom of expression in every country. We regularly make the Saudi Arabian authorities aware of our views, and will consider suitable opportunities for raising our concerns over this case.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Afghan government on sexual abuse of and physical attacks on young boys and girls in Afghanistan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK continues to raise this issue both with the Government of Afghanistan and in multilateral fora. We welcome the Government of Afghanistan’s public commitment of support for human rights and eliminating violence against women and girls, most recently at the September 2015 Senior Officials Meeting in Kabul.

    Through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund almost £400,000 has been allocated to address the psychological needs of victims of sexual harassment and violence; support state institutions to improve their response to victims; and raise awareness of the threats.

    We are also funding the United Nations Population Fund in Afghanistan (UNFPA) to provide family protection units, which will include psychological aftercare for survivors of sexual violence. This complements the Department for International Development’s work to strengthen access to justice for survivors of violence.

    Afghanistan is one of six focus countries for the UK’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security, for which there is a joint implementation plan across FCO, MOD, and DFID. We have also been involved and continue to support the Afghan National Action and Implementation plan.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Israeli government on the prevention of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We have had a number of discussions about this matter with the Israeli authorities over recent weeks. On 19 November, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv discussed the ongoing violence with Gilad Erdan, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Public Security and Information. On 24 November, I raised this issue with the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires and officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defence.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is giving to Côte d’Ivoire to strengthen its border security with Liberia.

    James Duddridge

    Through our commitment to the UN Peacekeeping Budget, the UK contributed £23 million to the UN Operation in Côte D’Ivoire (UNOCI) and £19.5m to the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in financial year 2014/2015, both of which help secure the Côte D’Ivoire-Liberia border. The UK has supported UN Security Council Resolutions 2226 and 2239 extending the mandates of both Missions into 2016.

    Despite incidents early in 2015, neither UN commander has reported any recent security concerns along the border region. We welcome the improved security situation and greater stability in Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire. We expect both governments to assume increased responsibility for the security of their shared border as the two UN missions begin to draw down.