Tag: Lord Hylton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether (1) medical personnel, (2) ambulance crews, and (3) journalists, have been unlawfully attacked in the last year in Israel and Palestine, and how many of each group have been injured in that period.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

While we have not made an assessment specifically on this matter, we are clear that both medical staff and journalists should have the protection that allows them to do their jobs in safety. Freedom of the media is an important human rights principle. We are aware of several concerning incidents involving journalists and ambulance crews in the West Bank and Gaza over the past year. We regularly raise our concerns with both the Palestinian Authority and Israeli government, and have urged all sides to de-escalate the current tensions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with the government of Turkey measures to slow the rate at which refugees and migrants leave Turkey, and the feasibility of their having European interviews before they leave that country.

Lord Bates

The Government has strong bilateral relations with Turkey and regularly discusses a number of issues, including migration. The Government recently announced that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the lifetime of this Parliament – this will include a number from Turkey. The Government supports Turkey’s efforts to manage the flow of illegal migration, and maintain an effective border between Turkey and the EU. Turkey is responsible for refugees on its territory and EU Member States are responsible for interviewing and deciding asylum claims lodged on their territories. There are no plans to create a mechanism to allow asylum interviews to be conducted in Turkey on behalf of EU countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Egypt about the alleged involvement of Egyptian forces in the death at sea of Firas Miqdad, a fisherman from Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of reports of an incident on 5 November involving an Egyptian naval vessel and a Palestinian fishing vessel, leading to the death of the fisherman Firas Miqdad.

Details of the incident remain unclear. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials will continue to monitor this case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will require the Parole Board to take into account all the available evidence that individual prisoners serving long sentences have changed their attitudes and lifestyles while in prison.

Lord Faulks

It is not mandatory for a prisoner to complete specific courses or programmes before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board. The Parole Board is required to assess the prisoner’s overall risk of serious harm to the public and, in doing so, will consider a range of factors, including, where available, the prisoner’s response to specific offending behaviour programmes (OBPs).

The Parole Board already takes into account other indicators of reduced risk, including where the prisoner has engaged effectively with professional staff on a one to one basis or undertaken education, work and training. In addition, the Parole Board will consider the prisoner’s behaviour in custody, together with evidence drawn from the prisoner’s attitudes – for example, how well the prisoner handles stressful situations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 16 December (HL4270 and HL4271), whether they have asked, or will ask, the government of Iraq to end the requirement for religious affiliations to be shown on identity cards.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The current National Identity Law does not require Iraqi citizens to mention their religious or tribal affiliations. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior has removed religious affiliations from new identity cards.

We will continue to encourage the Government of Iraq to ensure freedom of religion or belief in Iraq.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what expertise in the design and supervision of aid and development projects, if any, is available within EU diplomatic posts outside the EU; and if none, whether they will call for a halt to further projects.

Baroness Verma

The EU Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) is responsible for designing European international cooperation and development policy and delivering aid throughout the world.

As of 1 January 2015 DG DEVCO had approximately 3600 Staff (officials, contractual agents, local agents and other categories of external staff) both in Headquarters (35%) and in EU Delegations (65%). DG DEVCO has the greatest number of Commission staff in EU Delegations (2350 – approximately 44%). The Commission also draws on Member State contributions to complement and supplement its own expertise. For example, as well drawing on expertise in policy technical experts meetings and management committees, there are a significant number of specialists drawn from Member States under the Seconded National Experts arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reinstate legal aid for qualifying UK residents seeking to re-unite with their immediate family members from overseas; and if not, why not.

Lord Keen of Elie

Our limited legal aid resources should be available for the highest priority cases and to the most financially vulnerable. There are no plans to change the legal aid arrangements for family reunion. As with all cases outside the scope of legal aid, exceptional funding may be available where required under ECHR or EU law.

Guidance to support applications for family reunion is available from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). UKVI issue guidance to help applicants, and the types of evidence requested to accompany an application – such as marriage and birth certificates – will usually be straightforward to collate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of France about their plans for the refugee camp at Calais, known as The Jungle; in particular (1) whether the site will be forcibly reduced to 500 women and children in the Jules Ferry Centre, and 1500 others in container units; (2) what facilities for cooking and education there will be for the latter; and (3) what is to happen to current residents who are not willing to move to the semi-permanent units or to go to centres d’accueil.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The management of the migrant camp in Calais is the responsibility of the French government. The French authorities plan to reduce the size of the Calais camp and improve humanitarian conditions, and are encouraging migrants to move into the heated containers or to one of the reflection centres (centres d’accueil) across France. We do not have details of how many people will remain at the site nor further information of the facilities in the camp. We have however cooperated closely with the French in their efforts to improve conditions in Calais by: providing support and facilities elsewhere in the country; carrying out joint visits to the camps to inform migrants about their rights and responsibilities; putting in place a joint programme to identify the most vulnerable migrants and moving them to a place of safety; increasing the number of places in the French asylum system and encouraging those in Calais to claim asylum. Migration issues were discussed at the UK-France Summit on 3 March. The summit communiqué provides details of the further cooperation agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make further supplies of British arms and ammunition to Saudi Arabia conditional on the ending of attacks on civilians in Yemen.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria.

The conflict in Yemen is being monitored closely, and relevant information gathered from that monitoring is taken into account as part of the careful risk assessment for the licensing of exports to Saudi Arabia. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the present conditions of (1) the Gaza Strip, and (2) the Mosul Dam in Iraq, are suitable candidates for examinations under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reductions; and if so, what action they plan to take.

Baroness Verma

The UK is deeply concerned by the conditions in Gaza and the risk of the Mosul Dam failing in Iraq. The Sendai Framework is a non-binding framework that covers natural disasters and therefore is not the most appropriate tool for Gaza and Mosul. The UK is a strong advocate for the framework’s aims. We remain committed to supporting the most vulnerable countries and communities to better withstand and recover from the impact of disasters. The framework reflects fully a number of longstanding priorities and areas of expertise which are already being taken forward by DFID to support developing countries to help them to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks and build resilience, through its support to multilaterals and through its country programmes.