Topical Questions

Answer from Dominic Raab

First of all, we at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office try to give the best advice that we can as to how such cases—I have dealt with a number of these difficult cases over the years—can be raised most effectively. If it is viewed that there is political interference, it is often counterproductive. Of course, we will take another look at the case to see whether there is anything more that we can do.

Answer from Dominic Raab

We will obviously attend the UN General Assembly in September. In relation to the Durban declaration and its anniversary, let me reassure my right hon. Friend that—as we demonstrated at the Human Rights Council recently on the approach that we took to items 7 and 2—we will not support any partisan or political attacks on Israel. I reassure her that the Government are absolutely crystal clear in our condemnation of and opposition to any and all forms of antisemitism.

Answer from Dominic Raab

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. Deforestation is a key plank of our agenda for COP26, and I have raised it in Indonesia, where it is obviously a big issue, and in parts of Asia. I also raised it recently in a virtual meeting I had with Foreign Minister Araújo of Brazil, although he is no longer in place.

Answer from Wendy Morton

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. The Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out the UK's serious concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka in a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 25 February, and the UK has welcomed the adoption in March of a new UN Human Rights Council resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. That UK-led resolution enhances the UN's role in monitoring the situation and collecting evidence of human rights violations that can be used in future accountability processes.

Answer from Dominic Raab

The Czech explosion was many years ago and the attribution required a long investigation by the Czech authorities. We have increased screening and accountability measures, including through Magnitsky sanctions for human rights abuses and dirty money.

Answer from Dominic Raab

We take consular work seriously, dealing with cases day in, day out. I am happy for Ministers to look again at the case raised by Stella Creasy to see if we can provide more closure and accountability.

Answer from Dominic Raab

I will convene a G7 Foreign and Development Ministers meeting from May 3-5 here in London. This will be an opportunity to build on work on equitable access to vaccines, global girls education targets, climate finance, media freedoms, human rights, and democracy.

Answer from James Duddridge

We are already doing a lot on debt suspension through the common framework and addressing remaining countries like Somalia and Sudan. There are complexities with China's sovereign debt, multilaterals, and private sector debt, which we encourage to participate where appropriate.

Answer from Wendy Morton

Girls education is at the heart of our G7 presidency. We are working with G7 members on SDG 4 milestones for more girls in school and reading, and hosting a global education summit to mobilise financing for education recovery post-covid.

Answer from Wendy Morton

We welcome Colombia's commitment to implementing the 2016 peace agreement. We regularly raise human rights concerns with the Colombian Government and at the UN, support at-risk individuals, and work on tackling root causes of violence.

Answer from James Duddridge

I thank my hon. Friend for that very topical question. We welcome the success of the Israeli vaccination programme, and the co-operation between the UK and Israel on covid continues throughout the pandemic. On 17 May, the Prime Minister will announce further travel measures and which countries will fit into which traffic-light categorisations. We are looking to see how we can share health data, and we are all looking forward to hearing from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster following his visit, to get some real-life examples on what we can do here in the UK.