Tag: Lord Hylton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Bahrain concerning (1) the Bahrainis who have already been deprived of citizenship, (2) the 260 persons who may lose citizenship following alleged acts of terror, and (3) possible discrimination against members of the Shia Scholars Council and of Al Wefaq party; and whether they have had satisfactory replies.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We condemn all acts of terrorism and support Bahrain’s right to bring to justice those who commit terrorist acts. We also continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meets its human rights obligations and honour all conventions to which it is a party – including on citizenship rights. We regularly discuss human rights with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), most recently raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, on 4 February 2016.

We believe that governance is a matter for all political parties in Bahrain. That is why we urge all political parties, including Al Wefaq who boycotted elections in November 2014, to engage constructively in the electoral process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to reinforce the Royal Navy’s operations in the Aegean Sea in order to save more lives and to arrest more traffickers.

Earl Howe

I refer the noble Lord to the statement I made to this House on Monday 7 March (Official Report, column 1079). The Royal Navy has deployed Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay and a Wildcat helicopter to support NATO activity in the Aegean Sea. These will work alongside three Home Office vessels: VOS Grace, which has been deployed since November; the cutter Protector, which is en route to the region; and a further cutter that is expected to start operations later this month.

In addition to RFA Mounts Bay, there are five NATO ships on station at the moment. Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Turkey have each deployed a ship.

NATO ships will provide information to enable Greek and Turkish civilian authorities to intercept migrant vessels and arrest traffickers. It is not an interdiction or search and rescue operation, but RFA Mounts Bay would give assistance to any vessel it found in distress, in accordance with international obligations.

With regards to sufficiency, we note the substantial contribution being made by the UK and other members of NATO, but we always look to see what further contributions members of the Alliance can make.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have established the current facts concerning access by the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration to (1) the informal and organised camps for refugees near Calais and Dunkirk, and (2) the Centres d’Accueil for asylum applicants elsewhere in France; and in both cases, whether there is full access during the whole, or only part, of the working week.

Lord Keen of Elie

This is a matter for the French authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Oman following the arrest and detention on 15 April of Mr Abdullah Habib.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of Abdullah Habib’s case and have raised concerns about freedom of expression, assembly and association with the Omani government, including at Oman’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November last year. As a result of its previous UPR, Oman welcomed the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association to visit Oman, the first Middle Eastern country to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that central government procurement policies are used whenever possible to create jobs with training for people from disadvantaged areas or with individual handicaps.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Public Contracts Regulations (2015) allow Contracting Authorities to reserve contracts for sheltered workshops and suppliers whose main aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons, or provide for such contracts to be performed in the context of sheltered employment programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Ivory Coast about the number of prisoners being held for political reasons following the elections of 2010; what responses, if any, they have had; and whether they are in touch with local Roman Catholic bishops about that issue.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK has worked closely with the UN Special Representative for Côte D’Ivoire, and international partners to ensure that, as part of the national reconciliation process, those held in detention since the 2010/11 post-electoral crisis without formal criminal charges, or no charges to answer, were released. We welcome President Ouattara’s release of the final 3,100 such prisoners in January 2016. A further 265 prisoners remain on remand: all have been charged with criminal offences committed during the crisis. Following the visit of the UN Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Abidjan Prison on 10 June and subsequent meeting with President Ouattara, the Justice Minister has given an assurance that the trials will be completed by the end of December 2016. The UK continues to urge for the trials to be held in a timely manner.

To promote national reconciliation, the UK and other international partners continue to press for the Government of Cote d’Ivoire to ensure that all parties responsible for human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are brought to justice, no matter what their political affiliation. Whilst local Roman Catholic bishops have not directly contacted us, officials from our Embassy in Abidjan will engage with them on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Bassiouni Commission on the solitary confinement, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain; and whether they plan to ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect prison conditions in Jaw Central Prison, Al-Hawd Al-Jaf prison and all other prisons and places of detention, and to make recommendations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and it is a government priority to combat it wherever it occurs. We are aware that there have been allegations in Bahrain, and we raise concerns with the authorities. Our support to Bahrain’s reform programme focuses on strengthening independent oversight bodies such as the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman and the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission (PDRC) who provide oversight of police behaviour and detention standards. In May, the PDRC released an independent report which included testimonies of detainees and highlighted a number of key concerns in respect to prison conditions at Jau Prison. We welcome the transparent approach taken by the PDRC, and the Ministry of Interior’s commitment to implement all recommendations made in the report. We continue to call upon the Government of Bahrain to agree a visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making in reforming benefit sanctions and in preventing hardship to children and other dependent family members.

Lord Freud

We keep the operation of the sanctions processes under constant review to ensure they continue to function effectively and fairly, to promote positive behaviours. Where we identify an issue, we act to put it right.

Following the recommendations from the Oakley Review and the subsequent report ‘Benefit sanctions policy beyond the Oakley Review’ by the Work and Pensions Select Committee, we have made a number of improvements to the Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) sanction systems, particularly around communications to claimants and safeguarding measures for those who maybe vulnerable.

We are now focussing our efforts on continuing with the current improvements in JSA and ESA, to ensure that all the agreed recommendations and improvements can continue to be delivered in Universal Credit.

We also have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about unpaid wages for migrant workers, and about the return of passports being made conditional on foregoing arrears of wages.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

​We are aware of reports of some third country migrant workers having employment issues, including not receiving payments. This is a matter for the parties involved in each situation to find a solution.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of (1) Israelis, and (2) Palestinians, killed and wounded in sectarian violence in the last year; and whether they are making representations to the parties concerned.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government has not made any estimates of the number of people who have been killed and wounded.

As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), said in a press statement on 9 October, “We condemn all acts of violence, including attacks by Palestinians and by Israeli settlers. We urge all sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the tensions and avoid actions that threaten to exacerbate the situation”. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs website, from 1 January 2014 to 19 October 2015 there were 2373 Palestinian fatalities and 23,442 injured. In that same period of time there were 98 Israeli fatalities.