Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 30 January 2023.

In collaboration with the International Rescue Committee, the British Embassy in Mexico presents the report “Corruption Along Migration Pathways in Mexico”.

Between February and April 2022, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) interviewed more than one hundred people, including government officials, UN and NGO workers, shelter employees, and most importantly, migrants, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPS) to understand the impacts of corruption along migration routes in Mexico. The results were striking.

Corruption impacts migrants and IDPs at all points along their journey: it is a root cause of displacement, and is present from the moment migrants attempt to enter Mexico throughout their journey within and across the country. Corruption impacts migrants in different ways, from solicitation of petit bribes to complex and hugely profitable kidnapping-for-ransom schemes involving collusion between state actors and organized criminal groups.

Nearly every subject interviewed identified corruption as a serious challenge to migrants accessing their rights in Mexico, and many noted how corruption has a compounding effect: depleting migrants’ resources and pushing them into more dangerous pathways, which then makes them more vulnerable to further acts of corruption.

Further, corruption permeates the justice system, creating creating feedback loops where corruption fuels impunity, which then fosters further corruption.

The chief findings of this study demonstrate:

• Restrictive, deterrence-based Mexican and US migration policies create conditions that facilitate corruption, by placing migrants in vulnerable situations in which bureaucrats and security forces have ample opportunity for extortion, coercion and solicitation of bribes. Irregular migration status increases vulnerability and impedes access to justice.
• The chief modalities of corruption include extortion/bribery, kidnapping, and exploitation within migrant detention centres.
• There is ample evidence of collusion between local and federal authorities and organized criminal groups in more sophisticated corruption schemes, including kidnapping rings and selling of migration documents.
• Although state institutions exist to address corruption, and some internal measures have resulted in the dismissal of corrupt officials, generally those who engage in corrupt acts enjoy complete impunity. This is due to the ineffectiveness of complaint mechanisms, widespread distrust and fear of authorities by migrants, and corruption within the organisms tasked with receiving complaints.

While the challenge of corruption is deep-seated in Mexico and will require significant investment and norm shifting to be addressed, this study recommends the following measures be taken to address the issues:

1. Reduce the vulnerabilities of migrants and IDPs by investing in expanded humanitarian programming, reducing or eliminating migrant detention and other restrictions, and creating expanded and accessible legal pathways to regularization.
2. Combat impunity and build trust in state systems by investing in access to justice programs, including better data collection and easier access to information, increased availability of human rights defenders and lawyers throughout the migration routes, and training and capacity strengthening of state institutions.
3. Facilitate improved coordination between local and international civil society, IGOs, migrant groups, and federal, state and local governments.
4. Improve access to reliable, accurate, and easily digestible information about migration options to prevent deception and the spreading of rumours that lead to victimization.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 30 January 2023.

Like-minded Heads of Mission and other representatives of diplomatic missions joined a visit to the Palestinian community of Khan Al Ahmar.

Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, the EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland the UK and like-minded missions today visited the Palestinian community of Khan Al Ahmar to express their concern at the threat of demolition facing the village. Finland is also supportive of the below statement.

Today, 30 January, like-minded Heads of Mission and other representatives of diplomatic missions joined a visit organised by Israeli NGO B’TSelem to the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar. The community, in Area C of the West Bank, has been at risk of demolition by the Israeli authorities for several years.

Legal avenues to prevent the demolition of the village have been exhausted and we understand that the Israeli Government is due to submit its plans on 1 February in response to a court petition demanding its demolition.

Khan Al Ahmar is home to 38 Palestinian families and is also the location of a donor-funded school which serves five communities in the local area. The demolition of the village and the subsequent eviction of its residents could amount to forcible transfer in violation of Article 49 of Geneva Convention IV.

The international community has for many years worked to discourage the Israeli authorities from taking forward the proposed demolitions. Today’s visit was an opportunity to restate our concerns. Evictions and demolitions cause unnecessary suffering. We urge Israel to cease such actions.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 January 2023.

The Foreign Secretary has made a joint statement on a report which found the Assad regime responsible for the deadly chemical weapons attack on Douma in 2018.

The following is a statement from James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, United Kingdom, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, United States of America, Catherine Colonna, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France, and Annalena Baerbock, Federal Foreign Minister, Germany:

Today, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report that found the Assad regime responsible for the deadly chemical weapons attack on Douma on April 7, 2018. The report refutes the Russian claim that it was an opposition attack.

The report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, around 19:30 local time on April 7, 2018 at least one Mi-8/17 helicopter of the Syrian Arab Air Force, departing from Dumayr airbase and operating under the control of the Tiger Forces, dropped two yellow cylinders which hit two residential buildings in a central area of the city releasing chlorine killing 43 named individuals and affecting dozens more.

This report marks the ninth instance of chemical weapons use independently attributed to the Assad regime by UN and OPCW mechanisms.

Our governments condemn in the strongest terms the Syrian regime’s repeated use of these horrific weapons and remain steadfast in our demands that the Assad regime immediately comply with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Syria must fully declare and destroy its chemical weapons program and allow the deployment of OPCW staff to its country to verify it has done so.

The report also points out that the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) received credible information, corroborated through multiple sources, that Russian forces were co-located at Dumayr airbase alongside the Tiger Forces. The IIT also obtained information that, at the time of the attack, the airspace over Douma was exclusively controlled by the Syrian Arab Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.

We call on the Russian Federation to stop shielding Syria from accountability for its use of chemical weapons. No amount of disinformation from the Kremlin can hide its hand in abetting the Assad regime. In the aftermath of Syria’s chemical attack on April 7, 2018, Russian military police helped the Syrian regime obstruct OPCW access to the site of the attack and attempted to sanitise the site. Russian and Syrian troops also staged photographs later disseminated online in an attempt to support its fabricated narratives of this incident.

We commend the independent, unbiased, and expert work of the OPCW staff, and condemn the use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances. We also reaffirm our commitment to hold accountable the perpetrators of all chemical weapons attacks in Syria and beyond.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 January 2023.

Strengthening Shared Understanding among the Partners in the Blue Pacific and Pacific Islands.

Strengthening Shared Understanding Among the Partners in the Blue Pacific and Pacific Islands: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)

A workshop on “Strengthening Shared Understanding Among the Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) and Pacific Islands: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)” was held 24-26 January 2023 at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This workshop brought together officials and experts from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat; the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency; the Pacific Fusion Centre; along with Pacific Island representatives; PBP partners Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and PBP observers including the European Union, France, and India.

The participants discussed the challenges around IUUF and MDA in the Pacific through a series of plenary sessions led by regional subject matter experts. The workshop culminated in discussions about regional priorities and opportunities for deepening cooperation on MDA. The workshop strengthened shared understanding of the IUUF and MDA challenges facing the Pacific, and identified areas for further cooperation.

For further information on PBP see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-the-establishment-of-the-partners-in-the-blue-pacific-pbp

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/partners-in-the-blue-pacific-pbp-joint-statement-september-2022

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on Mali.

Thank you, President, and thank you SRSG Wane for your briefing. I join others in expressing our deepest condolences following the deaths of two MINUSMA peacekeepers in December; we salute the dedication of all personnel and condemn any attacks on peacekeepers.

Let me begin, Mr President, by underlining that the UK remains committed to supporting the people of Mali as we are doing through humanitarian stabilisation and development aid, and as we have done through our contributions to MINUSMA. The Malian people deserve the support of the international community to address the challenges they have faced in recent years.

In this context, we welcome the publication of the Secretary-General’s report on the review of MINUSMA, and thank the Secretariat and the mission for all their efforts.

I have three points to make.

First, we agree with the Secretary-General that business as usual is no longer an option. The Mission cannot continue as it currently stands, with restrictions hindering operations and without the full cooperation of the host government. The safety and security of Peacekeepers is at stake, as well as the reputation of the UN if it cannot effectively deliver its mandate and uphold UN principles, including on human rights.

Second, the four parameters set out in the review are key for the continued viability of the Mission. We need to see tangible progress on the political transition and renewed commitment and dialogue on the Peace Agreement, including a way forward on DDR. We urge the Malian authorities to adhere to the Status of Forces Agreement, ensuring freedom of movement for Peacekeepers, and we expect to see greater access for the Mission to investigate human rights allegations.

Third, President, we need to re-evaluate the support provided by MINUSMA to the Malian Defence and Security Forces. As the Secretary-General highlights, a number of military operations have been marred by allegations of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

As others have said, the report also confirms the presence in Mali of the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group. In this context, we need a hard look at the relationship with the UN mission and Malian forces.

President, the Council should use this review to take stock of the challenges and ensure the Mission adapts, as needed, in order to remain effective in a changed reality.

There is a short window until the next mandate renewal. Progress against the Secretary-General’s parameters will be essential if we are to empower MINUSMA to make a meaningful contribution to building the peace and stability the Malian people deserve.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva gave a statement during Dominican Republic’s fifth WTO Trade Policy Review (TPR).

Madame Chair,

Let me thank the Government of the Dominican Republic and the WTO Secretariat for their Reports and welcome the typically insightful comments of our most distinguished Chair and also our Discussant, Ambassador PAGÁN, Ambassador of the United States of America, fresh from her own nation’s TPR.

Let me start by saying, we commend the Dominican Republic on their GDP growth rates between 2014-2019, exceeding the historical average at 6.2% and that we appreciate the Dominican Republic’s responses to our 18 Advance Written Questions. We were interested to know more about customs procedures, import measures in particular tax stamps, technical requirements, and single investment windows. These highlight the granular interest which we and British companies place in effective trading relations with the Dominican Republic. As with other Members, we also raised questions regarding the agriculture sector, in particular exemptions for import licenses.

The Secretariat’s Report for this TPR indicates that over the review period, the Dominican Republic’s economy had a remarkable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a contraction in GDP of almost 7% in 2020 followed by growth of over 12% in 2021.

We were also pleased to note the shift towards sustainable agriculture practices during the review period and how these practices have contributed towards increased food security, rural jobs, and agricultural exports. The UK is keen to hear more about developments within Dominican Republic’s agriculture, health and safety system.

However, as the Secretariat Report also identifies, since their last review, where Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures were deemed unfit there has not been much marked progress, as there is still no centralized mechanism for the preparation of SPS measures. We therefore encourage the Dominican Republic to pay particular attention to these key areas.

We are grateful to the Government of the Dominican Republic for being one of the first countries to ratify the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement in April 2019. The UK appreciates Dominican Republic’s continued collaboration in the implementation of the CARIFORUM-UK Agreement and we look forward to working together to fully implement all areas of the agreement.

The first meeting of the Partnership’s Trade and Development Committee was held in October 2021, which was an opportunity for parties to provide updates on relevant trade policy developments in the United Kingdom and in the Caribbean region, and to reaffirm their desire for a prompt ratification of the Agreement.

We also discussed matters of joint interest including tariff liberalisation, trade in Goods & Services, and Geographical Indications. The parties noted with satisfaction that the Agreement had secured continuity of a trading relationship worth almost £4 billion in 2021 and expressed their wish to further develop sustainable and inclusive trade.

Turning to exogenous challenges, Members representing Small Island Developing States and Small Vulnerable Economies rightly highlight the increasing threat presented by extreme climactic events.

According to an ongoing research programme by the EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Initiative, the Dominican Republic is the 11th most vulnerable country to climate change in the world. In a region of intense cyclonic activity, the Dominican Republic is one of the WTO Members most threatened by hydrometeorological events. The impact of these extreme events has provoked economic losses in the order of almost $10 billion, not to mention the impact on human and natural life.

Relatedly, Global Supply Chains, the bedrock of free and fair trade and the conduit to its benefits are also increasingly threatened by extreme weather, from damaged infrastructure to disrupted logistics and the rippling knock-on effects. It’s a reminder that, as a Membership, we must accelerate efforts to modernise the international trading environment, such as through harmonised standards and digitised customs procedures.

We recognise the challenge for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to diversify considering their vulnerability to external shocks and the impacts of climate change and natural disasters. Indeed, SIDS are important partners for the UK. In our International Development Strategy, we set out our vision that SIDS will be more climate and economically resilient by 2030. And we salute the constructive role played by the Dominican Republic in representing the interests of SIDS in a whole range of multilateral fora, in Geneva and beyond.

Just last month, alongside Canada and the Alliance of Small Island Sates, we launched the Principles for Improved Aid Impact in SIDS at the Effective Development Cooperation Summit here in Geneva. We hope that the Principles will be a useful tool in improving the quality of aid and ensuring that development partners align with SIDS’ own priorities.

We look forward to working with the international community to drive action on SIDS climate and economic resilience ahead of the pivotal UN SIDS Summit next year. The UK is committed to delivering the promises of the Glasgow Climate Pact, including action on the scale of finance, considering vulnerability in our finance decisions, and addressing loss and damage.

Chair, to conclude, we wish our colleagues from the Dominican Republic well and a successful 5th Trade Policy Review. Thank you, Ambassador.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

The UK’s International Ambassador for Human Rights gave a statement during Guatemala’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva gave a statement during Peru’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council.

Thank you, Mr President,

The United Kingdom welcomes the commitment of the new President of Peru to unity, inclusion and dialogue, and the bid made last year to join this Council in 2024-26.

However, we are concerned about reports of abuses by the police and armed forces during the recent protests in Peru. We call on the Government of Peru to intensify its efforts to ensure a proportional and legal response to protests, and the protection of human rights, even in the face of violence, vandalism and attacks, which are unacceptable and have no place in peaceful protest.

We continue to urge immediate and impartial investigations into allegations of abuses and disproportionate action. We ask that the Government of Peru takes swift action to build confidence by demonstrating that anyone responsible will be held accountable. We welcome the visit of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and work of the OHCHR. The United Kingdom stands with the people of Peru in support of their democracy.

We recommend that Peru:

1. Adopt regulatory measures to grant women and girls access to safe and legal abortion, especially on health grounds and for victims of rape.
2. Strengthen multiagency actions aimed at preventing and eradicating gender-based violence, including through capacity building for public servants providing services and justice for survivors of gender-based violence.
3. Strengthen institutional capacity to ensure the protection of Human Rights Defenders living in indigenous communities, especially through the Ministry of Interior.

Thank you, Mr President.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

The UK’s International Ambassador for Human Rights gave a statement during Argentina’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council.

Thank you, Mr President,

I wish to thank Argentina for its invaluable contribution to the work of this Council through the recent stewardship of H.E. Ambassador Federico Villegas.

The United Kingdom welcomes the adoption of Law 27.610 on the voluntary termination of pregnancy and encourages the Government to pursue its full implementation.

We also commend the current Bill on a comprehensive approach to institutional violence in law enforcement. Accountability mechanisms are essential as we remain concerned by excessive use of force and arbitrary detentions.

We recommend that Argentina:

1. Work across the political spectrum to appoint an ombudsperson and fill other vacant important posts in the justice system without delay;
2. Systematically collect disaggregated data on any cases of human rights violations by law enforcement officials;
3. Strengthen healthcare services at all levels to meet the demand for sexual and reproductive healthcare, including access to abortions, in line with Law 27.610.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 January 2023.

The UK’s International Ambassador for Human Rights gave a statement during the Czech Republic’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council.