Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis 2022-03-08
2022-03-08
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
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Russia's assault on Ukraine has raised concerns about the safety and well-being of Ukrainian civilians.
What diplomatic steps are being taken to help ensure the protection of civilians in Ukraine?
Russia's assault on Ukraine is unprovoked, premeditated, barbaric and an assault on a sovereign democracy. The UK has committed £220 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the region. We are in regular contact with our allies across the world, as well as international agencies such as the UN and other humanitarian partners and donors, to assess the needs on the ground and to ensure an internationally co-ordinated response. We call on Russia to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify concrete diplomatic steps beyond general commitments
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Q2
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There are concerns about the safety of humanitarian corridors for refugees and aid workers.
It is absolutely vital that humanitarian corridors remain open to facilitate the safe passage of refugees from Ukraine as well as the safe passage of humanitarian aid into the country. What steps have been taken, in conjunction with NATO allies, to ensure this happens?
We note Russia's claim of creating humanitarian corridors. These are just not credible. The current humanitarian corridors that Russia has highlighted lead into Russia, and it is an obscene and offensive gesture to the Ukrainian people to invite them to take refuge in the arms of the country currently seeking to destroy theirs. It is not credible and we call upon Russia to allow proper, meaningful humanitarian access.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify concrete steps taken with NATO allies beyond calling for proper humanitarian access
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Q3
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Constituents are concerned about the slow and arduous evacuation process of elderly and disabled relatives from Ukraine.
Constituents trying to help their elderly and disabled relatives out of Ukraine describe their 19-hour journey from the south to Lviv for biometric enrolment due to lack of safe routes. They are now awaiting appointments in Poland, but who knows how long that will take? What more is being done with the Home Office to make this process quicker?
As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said, the Home Office has established a forward presence, including just over the Ukrainian border into Poland, in order to facilitate cases like the one that the hon. Lady has raised. We continue working closely with the Home Office to ensure that its work on receiving Ukrainian refugees is as quick, effective and efficient as possible.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify additional measures beyond existing efforts to expedite the process
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Q4
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There are concerns about the safety and rescue of civilians, including staff from HALO Trust, who remain trapped in areas like Mariupol.
Mariupol has been described as a living hell by those subject to vicious bombardment. What actions are being taken to get people under siege rescued into some safety?
The hon. and gallant Gentleman raises an incredibly important point. Our ability to project influence into Ukraine is understandably heavily curtailed. We will continue working to ensure that potential human rights abuses are catalogued and put forward for subsequent trials in the International Criminal Court and other places, if relevant. I take the point about what more can be done to help the brave people who have stayed behind to do great work in Ukraine and what we can do to help them to evacuate the country. I cannot give him details at the moment but his point is well made.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify concrete actions beyond noting curtailed influence and future cataloguing of abuses
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Q5
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People are fleeing Ukraine and entering neighbouring countries like Romania, Hungary, Moldova, in addition to Poland.
What more can be done on the ground in those countries to help swiftly get people to our shores?
My hon. Friend raises a very important point. As we have said, the Home Office has established a forward presence in Poland, but also in the other countries bordering Ukraine, to facilitate the forward passage for those wishing to come to the UK. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have made it clear that we intend to have a generous offer to the Ukrainian people of refuge to those seeking that, and we will continue co-ordinating with the Home Office in its work to establish routes to the UK.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify additional steps beyond existing efforts to facilitate passage from multiple bordering countries
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Q6
Partial Answer
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Suggestions have been made about the possibility of establishing a no-fly zone to further support Ukraine.
Apart from humanitarian reasons, there are suggestions for committing to a no-fly zone in Ukraine. Will the Minister assure the House that there is no intention to intervene directly militarily?
The UK should be rightly proud of the support that we gave to the Ukrainian armed forces over a number of years through Operation Orbital and through the early deployment of NLAWs—the anti-tank missile systems that have proven so effective—and we will continue to provide support to the Ukrainians in their self-defence. The Secretary-General of NATO has made it very clear that it would be wrong for NATO to engage directly in the conflict with Russia that is the inevitable by-product of a no-fly zone. Putin is desperately trying to paint this as western aggression against Russia. We must not do anything that will allow him to perpetrate that perverse distortion of reality.
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Did not provide assurance beyond noting NATO's stance on direct military engagement
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Q7
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There are concerns about the potential deliberate attacks on nuclear facilities near the western borders of Ukraine.
Is my right hon. Friend having conversations about contingency plans if Russian forces start to attack nuclear facilities near the western borders? Such an event would lead to a mass movement of refugees and could constitute an attack on NATO allies.
We take attacks, or the threat of attacks, against nuclear facilities very seriously. Nuclear safeguarding remains a priority for this Government. I will not be drawn on the conditions of what might be defined as an attack on NATO, but nevertheless we have made it absolutely clear that NATO is a defensive organisation. It has never expanded by force or coercion. Our support to the Ukrainians is steadfast, but there is a clear dividing line between an attack on one of our good friends—Ukraine—and an attack on a NATO member state.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not specify discussions about contingency plans beyond noting seriousness and defensive stance
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Q8
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On International Women's Day, over two million Ukrainian refugees have fled the country due to Putin's unprovoked war. The situation is rapidly evolving with families separated and cities cut off from basic services.
Hundreds of thousands of women are at Ukraine's borders, traumatised children in their arms, fleeing Putin's bloody war. Families have been separated, homes destroyed, and cities cut off from essential services. This is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with over two million refugees already displaced and millions more expected to flee. How much of the £220 million announced for aid has actually reached Ukraine or those who have fled? Will the Minister provide a monthly breakdown of pledges versus disbursements?
The situation is rapidly evolving. We have announced significant humanitarian support, the largest in the world at this stage. We are more than happy to keep the House up to date with the disbursal of that humanitarian aid through normal means.
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Assessment & feedback
Monthly breakdown of pledges versus disbursements not specified
Response accuracy