Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 January 2024.

The UK, US and Australia have announced new sanctions on key figures in the financial networks of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

• UK, US and Australia have today sanctioned key figures in the financial networks of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
• targets include a key Hamas financier who has used his money exchange and cryptocurrencies to move Iranian funding to terrorist groups
• coordinated sanctions show “there is no place to hide” for Hamas financiers, says the Foreign Secretary

The UK, US and Australia have imposed coordinated sanctions on Hamas today to disrupt the terrorist group’s financial networks.

Five key figures and an entity involved in the leadership and financial networks of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are the subject of the UK’s new sanctions, which will help to cut off the flow of funding that supports these terrorist groups, including from Iran.

Today’s announcement is the third round of sanctions imposed on Hamas and PIJ by the UK following the 7 October attacks on Israel, which build on existing sanctions against the groups.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

These sanctions send a clear message to Hamas – the UK and our partners are committed to ensuring there is no hiding place for those financing terrorist activities.

To reach a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas can no longer be in power and able to threaten Israel. By disrupting the financial networks which sustain Hamas’ operation, including from Iran, these sanctions support that crucial aim.

The UK is committed to working with partners to tackle Iran’s destabilising activities in the Middle East, including its long-term support to terrorist and militant groups. Today’s sanctions target Zuheir Shamlakh, a man with an infamous reputation as Hamas’s ‘main money changer’ since 2019, and a key figure in the group’s shift towards cryptocurrencies.

Shamlakh exploited digital currencies and existing systems of informal money transfers to move large sums of money from Iran to Hamas ahead of the tragic 7 October attacks. This underground financial network uses legitimate businesses as a front to conceal the flow of terrorist funding.

Those now subject to UK asset freezes and targeted arms embargoes include:

• Zuheir Shamlakh: a key Hamas financier including through his company Al Mutahadun for Exchange
• Ahmed Sharif Abdallah Odeh: a key operator in Hamas’s financial network who previously ran their international portfolio of companies
• Ismail Barhoum: a member of Hamas’s Political Bureau in Gaza and the group’s governing Shura Council
• Hassan Al-Wardian: a senior leader of Hamas in the Bethlehem/West Bank region
• Jamil Yusuf Ahmad Aliyan: a senior PIJ official and representative based in Gaza

The individuals are also subject to a travel ban, and will be unable to enter the UK.

The UK, along with our G7 partners, has committed to take action to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities. The EU announced on Friday 19 January 2024 a new EU sanctions regime against Hamas and sanctioned 6 targets which had previously been sanctioned by the UK and US.

This is the third tranche of sanctions the UK has imposed against Hamas and its associates since 7 October under the UK’s International Counter-Terrorism sanctions regime. Previous packages have targeted other top-ranking officials and financiers of Hamas.

The Foreign Secretary continues to work with allies and partners to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict. During his visit to Davos last week the Foreign Secretary spoke with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani.

Background

• Hamas and PIJ themselves are already sanctioned by the UK, and are subject to an asset freeze and arms embargo
• membership and expressing support for Hamas or PIJ is an illegal act in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union, have designated Hamas and PIJ as terrorist groups
• an asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world
• a travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971
• this follows 2 previous rounds of UK-US coordinated sanctions action against Hamas following the 7 October attacks on Israel:
  • first round: UK and US hit Hamas leadership with targeted sanctions
  • second round: UK and US target Hamas with new sanctions to isolate terror group
• on 14 December 2023 the Foreign Secretary announced a new Iran sanctions regime, giving the UK extensive new powers to hold Iran to account. Further information on this and the first round of sanctions under this regime: New Iranian sanction regime comes in to force

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 January 2024.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN, Simon Manley, delivered a statement during China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The UK has four recommendations:

1. Cease the persecution and arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Tibetans, and allow genuine freedom of religion or belief and cultural expression without fear of surveillance, torture, forced labour, or sexual violence, and implement OHCHR recommendations on Xinjiang.
2. Repeal the Law on Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong as recommended by the UN and cease prosecutions, including of Jimmy Lai.
3. Guarantee an impartial judiciary and cease the harassment of lawyers, the use of the death penalty, and ‘residential surveillance in a designated location’.
4. Cease the restriction of civil society and independent media, end forced repatriations, and stop targeting human rights defenders.

Thank you Mr. President.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 January 2024.

Singapore has formally ratified the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), becoming the second existing member to do so after Japan late last year.

The UK signed up to the vast Indo-Pacific trade group in July 2023, with our accession bolstering the trade bloc’s combined worth to £12 trillion, or 15 percent of global GDP. Under the deal, over 99% of UK goods exports to CPTPP countries will face zero tariffs, including British whisky and cars.

Accession will also upgrade the UK-Singapore bilateral relationship, providing opportunities to deepen participation in each other’s supply chains, diversify trade, grow investment into our economies, and collaborate on shared priorities, all while supporting greater access and opportunities for business.

British High Commissioner to Singapore, Kara Owen, said:

It is great to see Singapore ratify the UK’s accession to CPTPP, taking us a step closer to UK business accessing the benefits of the agreement. Accession will connect the UK to a group of economies that are the most dynamic and ambitious on free trade. It provides opportunities for our business to build on the strong £21 billion bilateral trade relationship with Singapore.

We look forward to growing our trading partnerships with all members through the ambitious liberalisation commitments, enabling new rules of origin arrangements and opportunities for investment and collaboration.

Martin Kent, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, said:

I’m delighted that Singapore has ratified the UK’s accession to CPTPP. UK accession to CPTPP highlights our commitment to deepening our £124bn trade relationship across the Asia Pacific, one of the most dynamic and fast-growing trading areas in the world. I look forward to working with partners across the region to help businesses make the most of the CPTPP.

To bring the deal into force for the UK, the government has introduced the Trade (CPTPP) Bill in parliament. Entry into force is expected in the second half of 2024 once the UK and CPTPP Parties have finished their legislative processes.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 January 2024.

Statement by Ambassador Archie Young at the opening session of the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 January 2024.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

Colleagues, two years ago, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Since its illegal and unprovoked attack, over 300,000 Russian personnel have been killed or wounded. Mothers and wives of these soldiers have been arrested or ignored. Thousands of Russian anti-war protestors have been detained. Media organisations have been shut down, and many journalists are now in Russian prisons.

Russian military modernisation has been set back eighteen years.

Now Russia’s defence industry strips down fridges for parts. It orders its weapons from the DPRK, in violation of multiple resolutions agreed in this Chamber, under this Russian Foreign Minister’s instruction. Its purchase and use of Iranian drones involves both states violating a Security Council resolution.

And for what? To lose more than half of the land it seized since February 2022 and a fifth of its Black Sea Fleet? To have its economy deprived of over $400 billion by sanctions, and hundreds of thousands of young Russians, who have emigrated for a better future?

This war benefits no one, not Russians, and certainly not Ukrainians.

Colleagues,

Last time the Russian Foreign Minister was here, he spoke of protecting the rights of Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

Yet the only threat to any civilian in Ukraine continues to come from Russia. Russia continues to impede access for humanitarian organisations to the millions of people in need.

The UN Commission of Inquiry has reported a systematic pattern of torture against Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities.

Russian missile strikes continue to strike population centres, with some of the most intense waves yet falling during the New Year. And Russia says it wants peace.

But while Ukraine, the UK and around 80 other countries were in Davos last week, discussing President Zelensky’s plans for peace, based on principles of the UN Charter that all here have signed up to, the deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council was proclaiming there could never be peace while an independent state of Ukraine existed.

That is not peace. That is subjugation, which would threaten Ukraine’s very existence as a state and usher in a new era of global instability.

This is why the UK will continue to replenish Ukraine’s air defences, to help it shield its civilians from these brutal attacks. This is why we have signed a new long term agreement on security cooperation, and announced £2.5bn more in military aid, and £18 million more in humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Because Ukraine’s security matters for global security.

President, as my Prime Minister said on his recent visit to Kyiv, we remain unwavering in our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its borders, to ensuring Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, to resist future coercion, to choose its own future, and to prosper peacefully.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 January 2024.

The UK delivered a statement during Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 January 2024.

The UK government has updated its travel advice to Ukraine following a change in the risk assessment on the ground in 4 western regions of the country.

• the UK has updated its travel advice to some western regions of Ukraine including Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi to advise against all but essential travel
• the UK previously advised against all travel to the whole of Ukraine after Russia’s illegal invasion in February 2022
• guidance continues to advise against all travel to the capital Kyiv

The UK government has updated its travel advice to Ukraine today following a change in the risk assessment on the ground in 4 western regions of the country.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice has been updated to advise against all but essential travel to the regions, known as oblasts, of Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. This is a change from the previous advice against all travel to the whole of Ukraine.

The FCDO constantly updates its travel advice on the basis of the situation on the ground and is not subject to any political or economic considerations. The safety and security of the British people is our utmost concern when determining guidance for British nationals overseas.

Russia continues to illegally wage war across Ukraine but the country continues to show remarkable determination and resilience in the face of Russia’s attacks, which is why the UK has changed its travel advice to these regions. It has strong air defence systems which are helping to defend the country from Russia’s missile and drone strikes.

In response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UK previously updated its travel advice to advise against all travel. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to the rest of Ukraine including the capital Kyiv.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 January 2024.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 17 January.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said:

The Foreign Secretary met the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian today (17 January) at the World Economic Forum.

The Foreign Secretary condemned the attacks in Erbil in Iraq, which killed UK-Iraqi dual national Karam Mikhael. Attacks like this violate the sovereignty of other states.

He also made clear that the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are illegal and unacceptable, and that Iran must use its influence with the Houthis to prevent further threats.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 January 2024.

The UK has issued a statement on the third anniversary of the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty said:

Today marks three years since Alexei Navalny was arrested.

His continued imprisonment is an indictment of Russia’s deteriorating human rights record, and demonstrates Russia’s contempt for freedom of speech and its international obligations. The Russian state’s increasing repression at home both enables and is driven by its aggression abroad.

Alongside our partners, we reiterate our call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally release Alexei Navalny and all those imprisoned on political grounds.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 January 2024.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Argentine President Javier Milei met for the first time at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 17 January.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said:

The Foreign Secretary met the President of Argentina Javier Milei at the World Economic Forum in Davos today [17 January 2024]. It was a warm and cordial meeting, setting out mutual support for a more constructive relationship between the UK and Argentina.

The Foreign Secretary and President Milei discussed how to enhance UK-Argentina relations through greater cooperation on areas of mutual interest including trade, education, culture and enhancing people to people links.

On the Falkland Islands, the Foreign Secretary and President Milei said they would agree to disagree, and do so politely. The UK position and ongoing support for the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination remains unchanged.