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1364793

registered interest
date	01/11/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Tigray: Refugees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that 9,000 Eritrean refugees living in refugee camps in Tigray have been forcibly returned to Eritrea; what discussions they have had with the government of Ethiopia about its obligations under the Refugee Convention; and when those discussions took place.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2021 answer text <p>We are concerned at reports of human rights violations and abuses against Eritrean refugees in Tigray by the Eritrean and Tigrayan forces from November to December 2020, including the forced repatriation of refugees to Eritrea. The British Ambassador in Eritrea raised our concerns with the Eritrean Foreign Minister in December 2020, who denied that Eritrean forces had forcibly returned Eritrean refugees to Eritrea. In March, the former Minister for Africa made clear to the Eritrean Ambassador the UK's concern about reports of human rights violations by all parties to the conflict and the need for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray. The Minister for Africa also raised these issues in her first meeting with the Ethiopian Ambassador on 22 September.</p><p>The report by the joint UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigation, published on 3 November, concludes that &quot;There are reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the conflict have violated the rights of refugees as stipulated under international human rights law, humanitarian law, refugee law, and national laws. It is essential that all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses be held to account.</p><p>We remain extremely concerned that humanitarian agencies, including the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), do not have access to refugee camps in Tigray, meaning our understanding of the humanitarian and protection context in camps and refugee hosting areas is limited. It is the responsibility of the host state to protect refugees on their territory and this was acknowledged by the Government of Ethiopia when we raised the matter.</p><p>There are numerous shocking reports of atrocities committed by Eritrean forces in Tigray, and their continued presence is fueling insecurity. These forces must leave Ethiopia immediately. We continue to press hard for this commitment to be delivered.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 09/11/2021 12:42:04 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1364794

registered interest
date	01/11/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Myanmar: Christianity
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported military attacks on Chin civilians and churches in Myanmar; and what discussions they have had with the government of Myanmar about such reports.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3548
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK is deeply concerned about the situation in Chin state, particularly the significant troop movements by the Myanmar Armed Forces and reports of multiple civilian casualties. On 15 October, the British Embassy in Yangon released a statement urging the military to end their campaign of violence and flagging our concern for communities, their livelihoods, property and places of worship. On 29 October, the Minister for Asia tweeted her concern about the burning of homes and churches in Thantlang, Chin State. Current clashes have created mass displacement, with people now fleeing across the Indian border into Manipur and Mizoram state. This not only exacerbates the crisis in Myanmar but causes further regional instability. We are monitoring developments closely and convened a UNSC meeting on the 8th of November to discuss these issues. Following the meeting we secured a press statement from the Council condemning recent violence and calling for the protection of civilians.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 15/11/2021 16:47:56 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1364499

registered interest
date	28/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	North Korea: Malnutrition
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the levels of malnutrition and hunger in North Korea, and (2) the order by the government of North Korea to their people that they must eat less food until 2025.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3509
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK is concerned that humanitarian needs may be growing in North Korea. According to UN figures, 40% of North Korea's population were food insecure in 2019. Since 28 January 2020, restrictions on internal movement, including for UN agencies and NGOs, have severely impacted the distribution of aid and support, and resulted in the departure of most of the international community. We encourage North Korea to allow entry for humanitarian workers to carry out an independent assessment of humanitarian needs, and to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 11/11/2021 15:47:05 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1364139

registered interest
date	27/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	North Korea: Human Rights
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Korea Future Initiative Persecuting Faith: Documenting religious freedom violations in North Korea (Volume 2), published on 27 October, particularly the finding that 97 per cent of documented human rights violations were perpetrated by agents of the North Korean state; and what plans, if any, they have to raise the findings in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3468
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK Government notes the report by the Korea Future Initiative 'Persecuting Faith: Documenting religious freedom violations in North Korea (Volume 2)', published on 27 October. We will review the report's findings and recommendations in the context of our work to address the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK, including in multilateral fora. The international community has a responsibility to respond to human rights violations in North Korea. At the Human Rights Council in March 2021, the UK worked closely with partners to secure a strong and clear resolution on DPRK human rights, stressing the importance of following-up recommendations from the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry Report and providing the basis for further work on a credible framework for accountability for human rights violations in North Korea.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 10/11/2021 16:30:21 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1364140

registered interest
date	27/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Kyaw Min Yu
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the arrest of Kyaw Min Yu in Myanmar on 24 October, what steps, if any, they are taking to secure his (1) well-being, and (2) release.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3469
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2021 answer text <p>We are deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of U Kyaw Min Yu in Myanmar. Our Embassy in Myanmar has issued a strong statement condemning U Kyaw Min Yu's treatment at the hands of the military. The UK condemns the military coup in Myanmar and the arbitrary detention of civilians like U Kyaw Min Yu and also those of the civilian Government including, the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, civil society and foreign nationals. We have secured statements at both the UN Security Council and through the G7 condemning arbitrary detentions. We urge the military to exercise the utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 10/11/2021 16:30:55 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1364141

registered interest
date	27/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Myanmar: Human Rights and Humanitarian Situation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) human rights, and (2) humanitarian, situation in Myanmar.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3470
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK is clear in its condemnation of the coup and the appalling violence by the military, which has left over 1000 people dead. In particular we condemn the troop build ups in North Western Myanmar and military violence against civilians, particularly religious minorities. We are deeply concerned at the on-going political, Covid and human rights crisis in Myanmar. The military continues to imprison opposition figures, journalists and foreign nationals and they have maintained their brutal crackdown on dissent. The UK is calling for a peaceful and inclusive resolution to the crisis, in line with the ASEAN Five Point Consensus.</p><p>The humanitarian situation in Myanmar is extremely serious. Displacement and humanitarian needs are increasing, with insecurity and the military junta is blocking humanitarian access deliveries across the country. We are working through small scale local civil society organisations which are able to mobilise community support and reach places the UN and international humanitarian community cannot access. Through our humanitarian mechanism we provide the most vulnerable populations in Myanmar with access to essential services: water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, food, healthcare and shelter materials.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 10/11/2021 16:22:02 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1363190

registered interest
date	25/10/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Embryos
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 11 February 2020 (HL1173), how many human embryos were (1) deliberately destroyed, and (2) transferred to uteri to establish pregnancies, in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many human embryos have been (a) deliberately destroyed, and (b) transferred to uteri since such procedures were made legal.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3361
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2021 answer text <p>The following table shows the number of embryos discarded and transferred to uteri to establish pregnancies from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. The data is the latest information available and as shown on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) register database on 27 August 2021.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Embryos discarded</p></td><td><p>Embryos transferred</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2019</p></td><td><p>12,004</p></td><td><p>5,109</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2019</p></td><td><p>15,731</p></td><td><p>7,074</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2019</p></td><td><p>16,740</p></td><td><p>7,324</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2019</p></td><td><p>15,137</p></td><td><p>6,503</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2019</p></td><td><p>14,581</p></td><td><p>6,456</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2019</p></td><td><p>13,326</p></td><td><p>6,119</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2019</p></td><td><p>14,893</p></td><td><p>6,496</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2019</p></td><td><p>14,938</p></td><td><p>6,739</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2019</p></td><td><p>13,895</p></td><td><p>6,149</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2019</p></td><td><p>15,225</p></td><td><p>6,889</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2019</p></td><td><p>16,765</p></td><td><p>7,434</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 2019</p></td><td><p>9,680</p></td><td><p>4,135</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total 2019</p></td><td><p>172,915</p></td><td><p>76,427</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: HFEA</p><p> </p><p>The following table shows the cumulative figures for how many human embryos have been discarded and transferred to uteri from 1 August 1991 to 31 December 2019. The figures include additional validated data from previous years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Total number of embryos discarded</p></td><td><p>3,106,319</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total number of embryos transferred</p></td><td><p>2,056,449</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: HFEA</p> answering member printed Lord Kamall question first answered 11/11/2021 13:32:21 answering member 4909 label Biography information for Lord Kamall
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1363192

registered interest
date	25/10/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Embryos
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority website about the “limited evidence on risks and success rates” for mitochondrial replacement techniques; how many embryos have been generated to date using each particular technique; how many such embryos have been transferred to patients; how many confirmed pregnancies have resulted since then; and how such outcomes remain consistent with expectations from the scientific review by the HFEA in 2016 about the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial disease through assisted conception.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3362
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2021 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment. The statement aims to provide basic information to potential patients and the reference to limited evidence on risks and success rates reflects that this treatment has only been available in the United Kingdom for the last few years.</p><p>The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that to date it has licensed 24 patients as eligible for mitochondrial donation treatment in the UK. To protect patient confidentiality, information on the number of embryos produced, transferred, and confirmed pregnancies cannot be disclosed. No assessment of the safety and efficacy of mitochondrial donation treatment has been made to date as the number of treatments in the UK is low.</p> answering member printed Lord Kamall question first answered 02/11/2021 12:44:15 answering member 4909 label Biography information for Lord Kamall
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1363193

registered interest
date	25/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Sudan: Military Coups
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the military coup in Sudan, (2) the location and treatment of Prime Minister Hamdok and other arrested senior members of the civilian administration, and (3) the condemnation of the coup by the government of the United States of America; and what plans they have, if any, to negotiate a trade deal with Sudan.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3363
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2021 answer text <p>We strongly condemn the actions of the Sudanese military on 25 October to detain Prime Minister Hamdok and members of the civilian government, declare a state of emergency and unilaterally dissolve the transitional government. The Minister for Africa condemned this act in the strongest terms in the House of Commons on 25 October. We have since made public statements, including as the Troika with US/Norway on 26 October, calling for the restoration of transitional institutions, release of detainees and protection of civilians. Over the past two years, the UK has taken a leading role to support Sudan on their delicate path from oppressive autocratic rule to freedom and democracy. The actions of the military represents a betrayal of the Sudanese people and their journey to democracy. We urge Sudan's military leadership to reverse their course, to release detained politicians, and to ensure Sudanese people can protest without fear of violence.</p><p>Prime Minister Hamdok has been released but is currently under house arrest. As a signal of support, our Ambassador and other senior members of the diplomatic community in Khartoum met with Prime Minister Hamdok on 27 October and were able ascertain that he is well, notwithstanding the circumstances, but still detained. The whereabouts and condition of other civilian members of the transitional government are still unknown.</p><p>Economic recovery remains a vital part of delivering stability for Sudan and the transitional goals of the agreement made between all sides in 2019. During her recent visit to Khartoum the Minister for Africa had the opportunity to discuss ways in which to improve the business environment and the role businesses can play in the success of the transition. We will consider the future of such engagement in light of the actions of the Sudanese military.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 04/11/2021 17:39:27 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1363195

registered interest
date	25/10/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Organs
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of organised international human organ trafficking groups and reports of the harvesting of human organs; what discussions they have had with the WHO about this issue; and what assessment they have made of the reported involvement of (1) hospitals, and (2) universities, in China in such practices.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3364
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2021 answer text <p>Current UK law prohibits commercial dealings in human material for transplantation and makes it an offence to traffic organs. Additionally, the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs invites governments to criminalise trafficking in human organs, and to take measures to protect victims. The UK signed the Convention in March 2015. We have also discussed this issue with the WHO.</p><p>We continue to monitor and review evidence relating to reports of forced organ harvesting in China. The Government's position remains that, if true, the practice of systematic, state-sponsored organ harvesting would constitute a serious violation of human rights. We regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 08/11/2021 17:07:28 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool