Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the discovery of a booby-trapped mass grave in northern Iraq is evidence of genocide against minorities such as Yazidis and Assyrian Christians.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of reports that mass graves have been discovered in northern Iraq, at least one of which was allegedly booby trapped by Daesh. We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution of Yezidis, Christians and other communities by this brutal terrorist organisation.

We continue to urge the Government of Iraq to do all it can to ensure the security and rights of all communities in Iraq. We are working in Iraq to build consensus around the importance of freedom of religion or belief; and supporting practical projects on community dialogue with civil society and faith groups.

The British Government believes that recognition of genocides should be a matter for international courts. It should be a legal, rather than political determination, decided by international judges after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible international judicial process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they plan to make to the state government of Telangana about following the example of the state government of Andhra Pradesh in introducing rules to prevent the sexual exploitation of Dalit women and girls through the Devadasi and Jogini systems of ritualised prostitution.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

This is ultimately a matter for the Union Government of India and state governments. Nevertheless, the British Government has worked closely with the Union and state governments in India to strengthen the protection of women’s rights and would welcome any legislative change that provided further protection to women and girls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of  the human rights situation in the Maldives, and what consideration they are giving to immediate targeted sanctions by the UK and at a EU level on senior officials and key supporters of the government of the Maldives, including freezing assets and travel bans.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is concerned about the decline in respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the Maldives. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), visited the Maldives on 17 and 18 January and expressed these concerns to President Yameen and other key members of the Maldivian government including Foreign Minister Dunya.

We will continue to apply pressure through a range of bilateral and multilateral means to bring about the positive changes we all want to see in the Maldives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 26 January (HL4928), whether any assets linked to North Korean individuals or organisations that are not associated with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programmes are held in the UK; and what steps they are taking to freeze assets held by individuals or organisations that are not associated with the DPRK nuclear programme that they suspect to be linked to weapons proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, or human rights abuses in North Korea.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Existing UN and EU sanctions against North Korea, which include measures such as asset freezes, are based upon UN Security Council Resolutions prohibiting the further development of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Therefore, the current requirement to freeze funds or economic resources only occurs in circumstances where the funds and economic resources are controlled by the persons and entities designated by the Sanctions committee, the Security Council or the EU council as being engaged in North Korea’s nuclear-related, ballistic missile related, or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes.

The UK is currently discussing a response to the nuclear test of 6 January with key allies and partners. We want the response to be robust and send North Korea a clear signal that it must change its approach to international peace and security, We are also using our position as a member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to discuss ways in which the international community can increase the pressure on North Korea to improve its appalling human rights record. North Korea will be discussed during the forthcoming March session of the HRC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they did not respond to correspondence sent by the UN Panel of Experts, as listed in UN Security Council Report S/2015/131; and whether they have investigated the actions of Princess Yachts International in the light of the sighting of the Princess 95MY yacht in North Korea in 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government fully cooperated with the Panel of Experts on this matter. Following a request to the Government for assistance, the Panel were put in direct contact with Princess Yachts International to follow up on their investigations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the difficulties that refugee children face in accessing legal advice or paying the fee required to register their citizenship; whether legal aid is available for those purposes; what the current fee is for registering citizenship; what proportion of that fee represents profit accumulated by the Home Office; whether they have plans to increase that fee, and if so, by how much.

Lord Bates

Civil legal aid remains available for advice and representation in relation to applications and appeals for asylum. The majority of unaccompanied refugee children applying for permission to remain in the UK will be seeking asylum, and legal aid will therefore be available. For non-asylum immigration matters and citizenship applications, legal aid is generally not available, although may be provided exceptionally where required by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Government has committed to review the legal aid provisions within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 within 3-5 years of implementation.

The current fee for a child to register as a British citizen is £749. The estimated unit cost to process this application is currently £223. For 2016/17 the fee will increase to £936 on 18th March 2016 with a rise in estimated unit cost to £272. The power to set fees that are higher than the cost of processing applications is contained within The Immigration Act 2014, which provides that the Home Office may take into account not just the cost of processing an application, but also the benefits and entitlements available to an individual if their application is successful and the cost of exercising any other function in connection with immigration or nationality.

The Home Office does not provide exceptions to the requirement to pay application fees for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen. This is because the Home Office considers that citizenship is not a necessary pre-requisite to enable a person to exercise his or her rights in the UK in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

British nationality applications are not mandatory and many individuals with Indefinite Leave to Remain decide not to apply. A person who has Indefinite Leave to Remain may continue to live in the UK and travel abroad using their existing valid passport and residence permit, visa or travel document.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hugo Swire, on 25 February (HC27825), whether UK companies that operate in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea must demonstrate that the funds used do not contribute to that country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme or its human rights violations; and whether the UK Government must investigate the final destinations of UK company funds in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

UK companies have a legal obligation to comply with UN and EU sanctions measures, including those on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The Treasury is responsible for the implementation and administration of international financial sanctions in effect in the UK, and works with law enforcement agencies to enforce these measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5646), 14 March (HL6504) and 24 March (HL6955), what was the purpose of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) no longer placing lay summaries of human embryo research proposals on the HFEA website prior to consideration by the Licence Committee.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it is unable to provide information about this decision beyond that set out in the response to the Noble Lord on 24 March (HL6955). The HFEA’s Business Plan for 2016/17 commits the organisation to a review of the operational aspects of applications for research licences.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have evidence that the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Peoples Protection Units have rescued some captive Yazidi women; what assessment they have made of whether the Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga have carried out any rescues, and if so, whether they have offered to assist them; and whether the same British technology that is able to identify ISIS commanders has been used to identify and to rescue women captives.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of media reports about organisations that are working to free those being held hostage by Daesh. We do not have any information regarding the rescue of Yezidi captives by either the Kurdistan Workers Party or the Peoples Protection Units. During offensive operations against Daesh, Yezidi hostages have been freed by the Peshmerga. We continue to work in support of Iraqi and Kurdish Regional government forces towards defeating this terrible organisation. The UK has been at the forefront of these efforts and plays a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 22 January 2008 (WA 28), 21 April 2008 (WA 234) and 12 May 2008 (WA 109–10), what assessment the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made of the recently published research in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/nature17948) and Nature Cell Biology (DOI: 10.1038/ncb3347); and whether in the light of that research it has changed its conclusion that outgrowing human embryos cultured in vitro for more than 14 days could no longer be considered to be live human embryos as a matter of principle.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it has not made a formal assessment of the recently published research in Nature (Deglincerti A. et al. 2016 and Shahbazi MN. et al. 2016). The HFEA has also advised that it is not expected that this research will lead to a change in the Authority’s assessment of embryonic masses, which form when embryos outgrow their structure. However, this research will be drawn to the attention of the HFEA’s Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee at its meeting in June.