Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 September 2022.

The UK is providing urgent food and farming support to Sri Lankans hit hardest by the economic crisis, Lord Ahmad announced today (Friday 23 September).

More than one third of people are struggling to eat and are suffering shortages of fuel, power, and medicines. Sri Lanka has the fifth largest food price inflation in the world, up 93.7% last month, with rice costing 150% more than this time last year.

In a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry at the UN General Assembly Lord Ahmad will set out the UK’s package of £3 million lifesaving support.

The funding will be delivered through Red Cross and UN partners. It will provide access to food, seeds, and tools to help grow crops as well as mental health care, including for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

UK Minister of State for the Middle East, South Asia, and the UN, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon said:

The UK stands by the people of Sri Lanka who are facing such a challenging time. The ongoing crisis is deeply concerning with so many in dire need of help.

We are providing £3 million of lifesaving support to the most vulnerable and will continue to work with international partners to help Sri Lanka.

This new funding is just part of the UK’s ongoing support to Sri Lanka. The UK is already providing support through the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. The UK is the largest donor to the CERF, contributing more than $1.7bn to the fund since its inception in 2006 and it has already provided $5m to Sri Lanka. The Asian Development Bank and World Bank are providing emergency assistance under a joint action plan to help reduce the impact of economic crisis on the people of Sri Lanka.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 September 2022.

The UK Permanent Representative to the UK in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, delivered a statement on the initial findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

Thank you Mr President,

Given that this interactive dialogue is fundamentally about respect for international law, allow me to make an observation. And that is that however many bombastic statements you make, however many sham referendums or implausible plebiscites you hold, you can’t change the international borders of a sovereign state by force of arms. That was true in 2014. And it’s true in 2022.

Commissioners,

Since April, we have – like others in this room – followed with horror the reports of the heinous butchery and wanton destruction that Russia has sought to cover up with mass graves and propaganda. But it is sobering this morning to hear your account of the scope and scale of those atrocities, and their lasting impact on the lives of tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of innocent civilians, including children.

Commissioner, your findings support the claims that serious violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, have been committed. This Council – and indeed the wider international community – has a responsibility to ensure that those responsible are held to account. And we will.

As we celebrate Ukraine’s liberation of settlements in eastern Ukraine, we cannot help but fear what further Russian atrocities will be uncovered. What plans do the Commission have to collect evidence in these regions?

 

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 September 2022.

On September 22, 2022, Ministers and representatives of Partners in the Blue Pacific members and observers and Pacific Ministers met to discuss progress in implementing Partners in the Blue Pacific. This follows a briefing by Partners in the Blue Pacific with Members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) at a senior officials’ level.

Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States welcomed Germany and Canada’s increased focus and commitment to genuine partnership with the Pacific and their announcement of intent to join the Partners in the Blue Pacific. Partners reinforced that this inclusive, informal mechanism will be guided by the PIF’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and existing Pacific regional architecture. This included ongoing engagement and consultation with the PIF and respect for the concept of Pacific regionalism and related regional mechanisms, sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and we are committed to being led and guided by the Pacific islands.

Partners noted that the Partners in the Blue Pacific aims to support the Pacific region and its priorities more effectively and efficiently. Together and individually, our countries will enhance our existing efforts to support Pacific priorities. Working together with the PIF and in response to the upcoming implementation plan for the 2050 Strategy, we will map existing projects and plan future ones, seeking to drive resources, remove duplication, and close gaps, which will avoid greater burdens and lost opportunities for Pacific governments and Pacific peoples. In parallel, each of our governments will continue to increase the ambition of our individual efforts in the region and in alignment with national and regional goals and priorities.

Six prospective Lines of Effort and initial projects for PBP were discussed, aligned with the thematic areas of the Forum’s 2050 Strategy. Participants agreed to further dialogue ahead of finalizing the Lines of Effort. The Lines of Effort discussed were:

• Climate Change Resilience, Adaptation, and Disasters
• Secure and Resilient Technology and Connectivity
• Protection of the Ocean and Environment
• People Centered Development
• Resources and Economic Development
• Political Leadership and Regionalism

Participants discussed some prospective initiatives that could be considered initially under the informal, inclusive Partners in the Blue Pacific. These included: Pacific humanitarian warehousing to preposition humanitarian and emergency supplies as agreed by PIF Ministers at the inaugural Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction Ministers Meeting in Nadi; an annual Pacific cyber capacity conference; further support to the Pacific Climate Change Centre in Samoa; and support to access climate finance. Participants agreed to further discussion of prospective initiatives in 2022 based on preferred timeframes of the Pacific Islands.

Next Steps

Partners further committed to working with the region to consider additional prospective initiatives for Pacific consultation and consideration, including in areas such as education and scholarships, infrastructure, gender, and countering Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Partners committed to regular and ongoing engagement with Pacific Island governments, the PIF and other Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies, and to periodic engagement to review and guide implementation in partnership with the Pacific in alignment with the views of the Pacific Islands.

Partners committed to regular, enduring engagement and consultation with Forum members on Partners in the Blue Pacific to ensure it meets Pacific priorities. Partners reinforced their long-term commitment to the Pacific and to ensuring that this informal, inclusive mechanism delivers practical, tangible results aligned with existing regional architecture and guided by the Pacific at every stage.

Attendees included representatives from Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Japan, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu, as well as Canada, France, Germany, India, Republic of Korea, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the European Union in their observing capacity.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 September 2022.

Thank you, Mr President.

The United Kingdom thanks the Special Rapporteur for the first full report since his appointment. We welcome the government of Burundi’s stated commitment to improving the human rights situation. However, we are concerned by the Special Rapporteur’s assessment that the human rights situation in Burundi has not changed substantively.
We also regret that many of the recommendations Burundi accepted at its third Universal Periodic Review in 2018, particularly establishing an independent judiciary, are yet to be implemented fully. We call on the Government to make progress urgently in this regard ahead of Burundi’s fourth Review next year.

Mr President,

The findings of this report make clear that ongoing scrutiny by this Council remains absolutely necessary. We respectfully urge the Government to reconsider its stance of not engaging with the mandates established by the Council or allowing the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights to operate in Burundi. Accepting scrutiny and taking advantage of the opportunities this re-engagement would offer can help Burundi deliver on its commitment to ensure its people benefit from the full enjoyment of all human rights.
Mr Zongo,

We would welcome your advice on how the international community can best make clear the benefits of a decision by the Burundian Government to re-engage with this Council.

Thank you

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

Following the UK government’s request for consultations, the second meeting of the Specialised Committee was co-chaired in Brussels by the UK government and European Commission.

UK statement following the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes consultations meeting on 22 September 2022:

The second meeting of the Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes was held today in Brussels, co-chaired by officials from the UK Government and European Commission. Representatives from the devolved administrations and EU member states also attended.

The meeting followed the UK’s formal request for consultations on 16 August 2022. Consultations are a mechanism in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to resolve issues between the UK and the EU.

The UK is seeking to implement the mutually beneficial TCA agreement to participate in EU programmes (Horizon Europe, Euratom Research and Training, Copernicus, and access to services from the Space Surveillance and Tracking programme) to the benefit of researchers and businesses across the UK and the EU.

At today’s meeting, the UK once again requested that the EU fulfil its obligation to finalise the UK’s association to EU Programmes after 16 months of delays. It is regrettable that the EU continues to decline this request.

The UK has been clear that our preference remains association to EU programmes and that the EU’s persistent delays to finalising UK association amount to a breach of the TCA. We have set out that delays are causing considerable uncertainty for our research and business community and undermining scientific cooperation in both the UK and EU member states.

The UK government is now urgently considering next steps. Our priority is to support the UK’s world leading R&D sector and we have already outlined potential options for doing so.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

Ambassador Neil Bush welcomes the publication of OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report, which outlines how Russia has waged a repressive war against its own people.

Thank you, Mr Chair. I wish to make a statement in my national capacity, to supplement the statement delivered by Ambassador Callan on behalf of the 38 States which invoked the Moscow Mechanism on Russia’s legal and administrative practices.

I would like to thank the independent expert Professor Nußberger for her expertise and her drafting of a robust and important report.

Mr Chair, the United Kingdom supported the invocation of this Moscow Mechanism because the issue of Russia’s repression of human rights is vitally important. It is important to the Russian people who face restrictions on their fundamental freedoms and it is important for peace and security in the OSCE region.

I want to highlight 3 elements of this forensic report. First, President Putin’s Russia has waged a systemic and a repressive war against the freedoms of its own people over the last two decades. Repressive legislation is used to restrict the rights of Russian people, most notably through the “foreign agents” and “undesirable organisations” laws.

Since the invasion, the Kremlin has implemented a wave of legislation targeting the dissemination of “knowingly false information” and “discrediting” of Russian armed forces. The real purpose is to criminalise the dissemination of the truth and for calling Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine what it is. Over 4,000 people have been prosecuted because of these laws, including dual British Russian national Vladimir Kara-Murza. As the report says, “this is military censorship”.

Secondly, Russia has created a climate of fear and intimidation to silence independent voices further. President Putin and the authorities employ propaganda to de-humanise Russian civil society. Murders and physical attacks are either carried out on the direct orders of the Kremlin, or are tacitly welcomed with no follow-up investigations. Between 1992 and 2021, at least 58 journalists were killed in Russia in connection with their work.

Police use violence and intimidation to suppress anti-war protestors. Over 16,000 people have been arrested. And overnight over 1,000 more were arrested for peacefully protesting mobilisation. The report highlights many cases of violence towards those detained. Grigory Yudin, a political scientist, was arrested at an anti-war protest and beaten in a police van until he lost consciousness. Female protesters were arrested, forced to undress, and physically attacked.

Thirdly, Russia’s domestic repression is a key enabler of its aggression abroad. Professor Nußberger writes that “repression on the inside and war on the outside are connected to each other as if in a communicating tube.” A tightening of freedoms at home allows the State to pursue conflict abroad with limited domestic accountability. This state of perpetual war provides a justification for further restrictive measures domestically. And we are seeing the grim outcome of this interrelation play out in Ukraine.

Mr Chair, this report reveals the horrifying scale of restrictive policies implemented by Russia over the last decade. Putin pursues these policies because he fears that a free society would hold him accountable for the abuses his regime have committed at home, and restrain his ability to commit abuses abroad. The tragedy is that both Russian and Ukrainian people, particularly vulnerable groups, are enduring the worst effects of this repression.

The UK, with partners from across the OSCE and the world, will defend human rights and the fundamental freedoms of citizens everywhere. We call on Russia to heed the warnings and recommendations of this Moscow Mechanism report. In particular, to comply with its OSCE Human Dimension obligations, and to critically assess the short- and long-term consequences of the “foreign agents” law, amongst other repressive legislation, on civil society.

I want to express the United Kingdom’s solidarity with all those who suffer repression at the hands of the Russian authorities. And to reiterate once again our resolute support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

The UK Permanent Representative to the UK in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, delivered a statement on the ongoing conflict in Syria and it’s impact on families.

Thank you, Mr President,

Thank you, Commissioners, for your latest report and the clear and detailed account of the human rights violations, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity that continue to take place across Syria. The Syrian regime and its allies will bear primary responsibility for these well documented horrors. Your valuable record provides an evidentiary basis on which the international community now must act to hold perpetrators to account.

Mr President,

Tens of thousands of Syrians have been forcibly disappeared and detained during the long years of this conflict. Thousands of families still wait to hear about their loved ones.

The agony of not knowing, and the danger faced by families, particularly women, in their search for answers, must end.

No more excuses. Just answers.

Commissioners,

What recommendations do you have to ensure that lessons from other international efforts on the missing, including detained and forced disappearances, can be applied to support Syrian families in their search for their loved ones?

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly held a trilateral meeting with Polish Foreign Minister, Zbigniew Rau, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Foreign Ministers of Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom met in New York on 21 September 2022 and agreed to:

• continue the unwavering support of Ukraine by Poland and the UK in the face of Russia’s aggression until Ukraine prevails
• elaborate further plans for the long-term support of Ukraine to help it deter and defend against future attacks
• develop their trilateral co-operation including by strengthening the defence capabilities of the 3 countries and the NATO Eastern flank

The Ministers also condemned Russia’s further mobilisation of forces, which can only set back the goal of peace.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, delivered a statement on the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia.

Thank you, Mr President.

The United Kingdom welcomes the Commission’s first report and their important work.

Since the conflict in northern Ethiopia began in November 2020, we have consistently called for three things.

First, for an immediate halt to the conflict, which has left over 13 million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. We are therefore extremely concerned by the return to war and the involvement once again of Eritrean forces, which will make finding a peaceful settlement more difficult.Second, for a negotiated political settlement between all sides, because it is clear that there is no prospect of a military solution. We welcome the Ethiopian Government’s public commitments to ending the conflict through dialogue, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s willingness to begin peace talks. Now is the time for both parties to deliver on these commitments.
Lastly, we have repeatedly called for full, open and independent investigations into the appalling human rights violations and abuses committed by all sides. We welcome the conclusions of the Joint Investigation and the work of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force. The Commission’s work plays a vital role alongside these in ensuring accountability. We urge the Ethiopian Government to cooperate with the Commission, and to support the extension of its mandate.

Commissioners,

We would welcome your views on key priorities over the coming year, in the hope that your mandate is extended.

Thank you, Mr President.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

UK Ambassador Bush calls planned elections in Ukraine a charade, and part mobilisation admission that the invasion is failing.

Over these past months, we have seen the courage of the Ukrainian people; the adeptness of their military; and their unyielding commitment to their values under the most testing of circumstances. The United Kingdom is proud to call itself a partner – and a friend – of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive marks a new phase. But it is as solemn as it is welcome. To the international community, the Ukrainian flag symbolises bravery, freedom and democracy. To those in Izium, Balakliya, Kupyansk and the Kharkiv region, their national flag is not just a symbol – it is a lifeline. Because as the Ukrainian Armed Forces reclaim their territory, evidence emerges: reports of bodies showing signs of torture; reports of torture chambers; civilians, including children, amongst the dead. Beneath each wooden cross in Izium lies a human being, one who can no longer tell us what has happened to them. For the Ukrainian men, women and children whose stories will be told through post mortem, we promise justice.

Time and time again, Ukrainians have demonstrated the resilience needed to secure victory in their fight for peace. And yet President Putin falsely maintains that the Russian offensive in the Donbas remains on track. The world can see that he is lying. The Russian army, and the Russian leadership, is in panic mode. We see appalling acts of desperation: increased shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including the dam at Karachunivske Reservoir and the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant at Mykolaiv. On 17 September, four medical workers were killed by shelling while attempting to evacuate their patients from a hospital in Strilecha, in Kharkivska Oblast. With Russian military actions in Bucha and Mariupol, we saw the very worst of humanity. By contrast, people like these Ukrainian medical workers, killed while saving lives, show us the best of it. We offer our deepest condolences to their families.

Meanwhile, President Putin’s proxies in the temporarily Russian controlled territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts scramble to organise sham referenda – a pitiful charade. Let us be clear: we will never recognise any Russian attempts to purportedly annex part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. These illegitimate referenda will not alter our approach. We will continue to support Ukraine’s right to defend its territory.

Putin’s sabre-rattling, and decision to mobilise parts of the Russian population is an admission that his invasion is failing. He continues to send tens of thousands of his own citizens to their deaths, ill equipped and badly led. We have seen reports overnight of over a thousand people arrested – another vicious assault on fundamental freedoms in Russia. And in Ukraine we have seen Russia’s deplorable attempts to replenish its ranks with convicts – qualified for little more than continuing the so-called “Special Military Operation” in the style in which it has been conducted thus far: with ineptitude and brutality. Ukraine must win; and we must ensure there is accountability and justice.

We join our partners in condemning the sentencing of Maxim Petrov and Dymtro Shabanov by an unrecognised and illegitimate court in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. As the OSCE Chair-in-Office and Secretary-General have repeatedly made clear, SMM national mission members were detained for simply performing their official duties – duties mandated by all 57 participating States. Russia is solely responsible for these actions, and we call for the immediate and unconditional release of our OSCE colleagues.

Indeed, the UK holds the Russian Federation responsible for the safety and welfare of all Prisoners of War and detained civilians in the non-Government controlled areas of Ukraine. 5 British Nationals and 5 other foreign nationals held by Russia-backed proxies are being safely returned. Russia must end the ruthless exploitation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees for political ends.

I join my Ukraine, US and EU colleagues in condemning the sentencing yesterday of the Deputy Leader of the Crimean Majlis Nariman Celâl, as well as Asan Akhmetov and Aziz Akhmetov. Mr Chair, we stand with Ukraine for the long haul, which is why my Prime Minister has vowed to match the UK’s 2022 military support to Ukraine in 2023. Russia must withdraw all of its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders.