Tag: Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of whether continuing efforts to press the government of Sudan to tackle sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur have been successful, in the light of (1) the incidence of rape in the areas currently monitored by the UN and (2) the requirement in the legal framework in Sudan for a victim to provide four male witnesses to confirm that a rape was without consent.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned by the reported prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. While we welcome amendments to Sudanese law earlier this year that separated the crimes of rape and adultery we are concerned about how the law is implemented.

In addition to engaging the Government of Sudan, we will continue to support a wide-range of efforts to progress this issue. We strongly support the presence of the African Union/UN Hybrid Mission operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and have worked to ensure that the mission has a strong mandate to protect civilians across Darfur. We are also vocal – both bilaterally and through the UN’s Security and Human Rights Councils – in urging all armed actors to address sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. The UK played a significant role in the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2242 reflecting the importance of Women, Peace and Security-related issues for the UN family. Bilaterally, we have provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the response made by human rights groups to figures released by the UK that it sold Saudi Arabia over £1 billion of weapons and air-to-air missiles between July and September 2015.

Lord Maude of Horsham

The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. No licence would be issued if to do so would contravene the UK’s strict export control criteria. In this case a single licence accounted for 90% of the total value of potential exports authorised by the licences. This was for a long-term contract for the delivery of a new air-to-air munitions capability over a number of years [and is unconnected to current operations by the Royal Saudi Air Force in Yemen.

Licences granted in a given period do not equate to goods shipped The Department for Business (BIS) export licensing statistics only indicate the number and value of licences granted in a specified period, not the value of actual exports. Licences are usually valid for up to two years and the value of the licence therefore represents an estimate of future export value. As such, the value of licences granted in any one quarter will generally not be the same as the value of goods actually exported and does not provide an indication of goods shipped.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases of (1) corporate, and (2) individual, tax evasion in each of the last five years have involved a British Overseas Territory or a Crown Dependency.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The information requested is not available in this format.

HM Revenue and Customs publishes estimates of the tax gap each year. The latest edition was published on 22 October 2015 and is available on the gov.uk website.

Estimates are made for all major taxes, including corporation tax and income tax. However, this information is not broken down in such a way that can be used to identify the loss of tax receipts due to the tax regimes requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the evidence that following the clashes between rebel and government forces in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur the number of civilians who have fled the fighting has led to the displacement of 130,000 people.

Baroness Verma

Whilst exact displacement figures from Jebel Marra are difficult to establish due to access restrictions and challenges with registration, we regard the UN figure of approximately 130,000 people displaced as the best possible estimate. This is of course deeply troubling, and we have raised our concerns with the Government of Sudan. We continue to press both bilaterally and at the UN Security Council for full humanitarian access to be granted to the affected areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Ethiopia was not classified as a priority country in the FCO’s recent report on human rights and democracy, in the light of the government of Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Any list of priorities has to be limited. Our concept of Human Rights Priority Countries is not intended to an exhaustive list of trouble spots. Nor is it a homogenous group. We have chosen to focus on 30 countries where we judge the UK can make a real difference on human rights over the duration of this Parliament. Our concerns are not limited to those countries; our interests are global. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy highlights specific human rights issues, which we are keen to work on with other countries to address. We have consistently expressed our concern at the human rights situation in Ethiopia, and have made representations specifically in response to the Oromo protests.

We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian government over the ongoing situation in that region. The Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), raised our concerns with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. Our Ambassador to Ethiopia also raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 April. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian government, including on the use of force. We will continue to work with our partners, including the US, in urging the Ethiopian government to use restraint in their handling of the protests in Oromia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to recent reports about cuts by the World Food Programme in aid to internally displaced people in parts of Rakhine State and Kachin State, Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

DFID funds significant food assistance for internally displaced people in Burma through a number of partners. We do not fund the World Food Programme (WFP) for such assistance, but we are informed of their programming decisions. DFID officials visit Rakhine and Kachin regularly to listen to affected communities. We ensure that WFP is made aware of any concerns raised about their assistance. DFID will monitor the impact of recent changes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as penholder on the UN mission in Darfur in the UN Security Council, the UK is pressing for the introduction of community liaison assistants who would follow the model provided by MONUSCO in the DRC and would aim to provide camp residents with support in giving their views on their protection needs.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The mandate for the African Union/UN Hybrid Mission operation in Darfur (UNAMID) will be reviewed by June 30 2016. We will continue to work to strengthen the mission, including its engagement with vulnerable communities. We will assess the effectiveness of the use of community liaison assistants in the Democratic Republic of Congo and explore whether UNAMID’s community engagement would be improved by following a similar model.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific engagement they have had with the besieged people of the Syrian town of Madaya.

Baroness Verma

The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

On 11 January, the UN, Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirmed aid convoys had arrived in the hard to reach towns of Madaya, Foah and Kefraya. Further convoys have since arrived. These convoys are expected to enable 40,000 people inside Madaya, and 20,000 people inside Foah and Kefraya, to survive. UK funding to UN agencies directly supported these convoys with food parcels and medicine. This is part of the UK’s ongoing support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria.

The UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to besieged and hard to reach areas. They have the mandate, expertise and capacity to assess needs and deliver an appropriate, timely response. We continue to press for them to be granted full access to all areas in need.

We will not stop in our efforts, whether through hard work on a political solution that will deal with the root cause of the problem or through humanitarian efforts, which provide immediate, life-saving relief. The shocking situation in hard to reach and besieged areas underlines the vital work of aid agencies and shows how important it is that they have the assurance of knowing that they have the resources to keep going.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the impact of tax regimes in each Crown Dependency and British Overseas Territory on tax receipts from individuals.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The information requested is not available in this format.

HM Revenue and Customs publishes estimates of the tax gap each year. The latest edition was published on 22 October 2015 and is available on the gov.uk website.

Estimates are made for all major taxes, including corporation tax and income tax. However, this information is not broken down in such a way that can be used to identify the loss of tax receipts due to the tax regimes requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision to offer a £100 million aid package which will be implemented under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa set up to tackle instability and the causes of migration.

Baroness Verma

Migration within and from Africa is a major development issue. It needs to be addressed in part by tackling instability and the root causes of migration. At the Valletta Summit the European Union agreed a new €1.8 billion Trust Fund focussing on four main areas linked to development priorities identified by the host governments in Africa: i) promoting greater economic and employment opportunities; ii) strengthening resilience of communities and in particular the most vulnerable, as well as refugees and displaced people iii) improved migration management in countries of origin and transit; and, iv) improved governance and conflict prevention, and reduction of forced displacement and irregular migration.

The Trust Fund is composed of three windows, one for the Horn of Africa, one for the Sahel and one for North Africa. The proposed work of the Trust Fund complements DFID’s own approach in these regions. The UK is represented by DFID on each of the EU Trust Fund window’s Operating Committees and on the overall board of the Trust Fund. DFID, the FCO and Home Office officials work as one team to coordinate engagement with EU Trust Fund. The UK is playing a full role in shaping the Trust Fund’s strategy and we work hard to ensure that the funding is well spent and that proposed projects deliver maximum value for money.