Tag: Lord Hylton

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.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether British missions in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Italy, Greece, and other countries have received applications for family reunion and asylum in Britain; and if so, what action they have taken to respond to them.

Lord Bates

Applications for family reunion visas can be made in Visa Application Centres across the globe. There are such centres in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Italy and Greece. Should any mission receive queries about applying for a family reunion visa the applicant will be directed to the online application process. UKVI aims to decide all family reunion visa applications within 12 weeks of submission as per it’s customer services standard.

An individual must be in the UK to claim asylum. There is no obligation on the UK to consider applications or enquiries made on behalf of people abroad about asylum in the UK and there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for someone to be given permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Turkey about the arrest and charging of Figen Yüksekdag, co-chair of the HDP Party; and whether they will press for her trial to be observed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

A request has reportedly been filed to allow proceedings against Mrs Yüksekdag but we are not aware of her arrest. As a member of the Turkish Parliament she enjoys immunity from prosecution, which would need to be lifted or given up for her to face trial. Officials from our Embassy in Ankara regularly observe trials in Turkey.