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  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals were employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010; and how many such people were employed at administrator grade.

    Mr David Lidington

    The European Parliament does not publish statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality. According to our own records, the total the numbers of UK nationals employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010 is:

    2010: 290
    2011: 306
    2012: 306
    2013: 291
    2014: 271
    2015: 251

    The latest figure available is for May 2016 and is 263.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Libyan government on UK military training and mentoring for Libyan authorities; and what offers of such training and mentoring the UK has made to Libyan authorities.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) has not made a specific request to the UK for military training and mentoring for Libyan authorities. We have discussed with international partners how best we might support the GNA. That could include training Libyan Security Forces to provide their own security, and to the Libyan Coastguard to help tackle illegal people smuggling as agreed by the international Community at the Vienna Ministerial on 16 May. Any such support we and others provided would be in response to a clear request from the GNA.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of China on the case of the disabled rights lawyer Ni Yulan who has recently been placed under house arrest in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office monitors the human rights situation in China closely, and we are concerned by the treatment of Ni Yulan, both her house arrest and the credible reports of harassment of her and her family. A senior British diplomat met Ni Yulan in March. Five diplomats from other countries were prevented from visiting Ni at her home last month. We will continue to press the Chinese authorities for access. We plan to raise Ni’s case at the next round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

    More widely, I remain concerned by the harassment and detention of human rights defenders in China. We continue to urge the Chinese authorities to respect and protect freedom of expression and association, in line with its constitution and the international frameworks to which China is a party.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Iranian government on the imprisonment of Ebrahim Firouzi and other Christians in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I discuss many issues with my Iranian counterpart. Restriction of freedom of expression, religion and belief continue to cause concern. I have repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians, regardless of belief

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Ethiopian government on the cases of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun.

    James Duddridge

    We are aware of the ongoing court case of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun, who were convicted of burning down the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Gulema Iyesus in June 2015. As all three are still pursuing their appeal case through the courts in Ethiopia, with their final appeal hearing set for the 29 June, it would be inappropriate to comment on their case at this time.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Iranian government on the imprisonment of seven Bahá’í leaders.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK regularly raises our concerns at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran. We call on Iran to cease harassment of all religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the health condition of Kamal Foroughi in Iran; and what assessment he has made of the level of Mr Foroughi’s access to appropriate medical care.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have raised our concerns about Mr Foroughi’s health with the Iranian Government and continue to lobby them at the highest level at every opportunity, requesting consular access for officials, access to lawyers and appropriate access to medical treatment. Most recently, on 18 May, I raised our concerns for Mr Foroughi’s health with the Iranian Charge d’affaires. We continue to ask for his early release on humanitarian grounds given his age and medical history.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the Government permits the 35 people named under the US Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 to (a) hold assets in the UK and (b) be issued with UK visas.

    Richard Harrington

    As we have previously made clear, the Magnitsky case remains of serious concern to the UK Government.

    The UK Government has powers in relation to assets that are very similar to those available to the United States under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. These powers are under regular review and the Government will consider further legislation if and when the evidence suggests it is necessary.

    Wherever we have evidence that individuals were involved in the Magnitsky case, that evidence is taken very carefully into account in considering visa applications.

    For reasons of data protection the Government does not routinely comment on individuals’ asset holdings or immigration cases.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the President of Sri Lanka on (a) the implementation of UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 and (b) the involvement of foreign judges and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes during the Sri Lankan civil war since the last ministerial visit to Sri Lanka.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We regularly discuss progress and developments in Sri Lanka with the government, including on UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution 30/1. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did so when he met President Sirisena on 12 May and our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka did so on 10 May. I also discussed this with the Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Samaraweera when I visited Sri Lanka in January. We encourage the government to implement fully its commitments to the UNHRC resolution on reconciliation, accountability and human rights, and look forward to the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ assessment of Sri Lanka’s progress in June.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Turkish counterpart to (a) re-open Turkey’s borders to Syrian asylum seekers and (b) conduct independent investigations on alleged attacks on Syrian asylum seekers by Turkish border guards.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are aware of the allegations of the use of lethal force against civilians trying to cross the border from Syria into Turkey. We are unable to verify these allegations, as is the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The allegations have been strongly refuted by the Government of Turkey. We regularly raise with the Government of Turkey issues relating to the management of the border with Syria and the treatment of refugees. Turkey is hosting over 2.7million Syrian refugees. We understand that the Turkish government has made preparations to accept more Syrian refugees should conditions in Syria necessitate so, but that its approach is to enable humanitarian aid to be provided to affected populations in northern Syria.