Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide
funds to charities based in the United Kingdom that work to
remove landmines and dismantle improvised explosive devices in
other countries.
The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
( of Richmond Park) (Con)
My Lords, over the next three years, the UK’s demining work will
continue to save lives, limbs and livelihoods across the world,
supporting those most in need and delivering our treaty
commitments. The Global Mine Action Programme 3, due to begin in
2022, will involve landmine clearance and risk education to help
affected communities keep safe, and capacity development to help
national authorities manage their landmine contamination. We are
currently working towards finalising funding and country
allocations for this programme.
(LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as an ambassador for HALO, which
has an agreement with the Taliban to continue to carry out mine
and IED clearance in Afghanistan. It employs 2,500 locally
engaged staff with financial support from Germany and the United
States for this work. However, there is no support from the
United Kingdom. Why not?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, in Afghanistan, since 2018, the FCDO’s funding to UNMAS
has cleared landmines and unexploded ordnance in 27.2 square
kilometres of land. It has released a further 211 square
kilometres of land by assessing it as no longer being dangerous.
That has directly benefited nearly 1.5 million people. UNMAS has
also delivered landmine-risk education to at least 1.2 million
people, including more than 450,000 women and girls. The UK has a
long track record in Afghanistan.
(Con)
My Lords, a long time ago, back in 1982, while the Argentinians
had a short occupation of the Falkland
Islands they laid a number of landmines there.
These were mostly still there when we retook the islands a few
months later. What is the present position? Is everything now
safe?
of Richmond Park (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. I shall have to write to
him with an answer on the current assessment.
(CB)
My Lords, in September, the United Kingdom assumed the presidency
of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Since then, the FCDO has
removed funding for mine-clearance operations in Vietnam, South
Sudan and Zimbabwe, some of the countries worst blighted by
cluster munitions and landmines. Will the Minister explain how
this decision will help the UK achieve its objective of the
universal application of the convention? From outside, it looks
as though we are failing to put our money where our mouth is.
of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Lord is right that the funding has currently been
reduced in relation to demining. The Global Mine Action
Programme, which I mentioned earlier, will begin next year. We
are reviewing funding and country allocations and hope to be able
to share our plans for the programme in due course.
(Lab)
My Lords, further to the last question, is not the truth that the
cut in our support for clearing landmines, cluster bombs and
cluster munitions will result in thousands of people either being
killed or having their legs blown off? How can we justify such a
cut?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the UK has invested really significant sums; it is one
of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to
funding demining. We have saved, as a consequence of taxpayers’
contributions to programmes backed by the Foreign Office, the
lives of many, many hundreds of thousands of people. As I said,
the FCDO recognises how critical this work is. That is why we are
reviewing the decisions that were made: we are reviewing funding
and country allocations and we will come back with details as
soon as possible.
(LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as co-chair of the Zimbabwe APPG.
I may be able to help the Minister with the answer to the
question from the noble Lord, . Last year, landmine
clearance in the Falkland
Islands was completed, with Minister paying particular tribute to
the brilliant contribution of the team of Zimbabwean deminers. In
the context of this assistance, does the Minister recognise that
it is absolutely unacceptable for the Government to cut entirely
our mine-action funding to Zimbabwe, which has some of the
densest and most dangerous minefields in the world? Will he
review this decision and restore funding so that Zimbabwe can
meet its goal of being landmine-free by 2025, and will he meet me
to discuss this matter?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, as I said in answer to the previous two questions, we
are reviewing the funding decisions. We are reviewing country
allocations and we will come back with figures when we can. No
one disputes the importance of this work to people’s lives and to
the stability of countries. Yes, I would be very happy to meet
the noble Lord.
(Lab)
I think it is worth repeating this really important point so that
the Minister hears: there has been a 75% cut in our landmine
clearance work. That will result in deaths. While the Minister is
waiting for another nine months, many children and women will be
killed as a consequence of this action. It is no good talking
about the past; it is the future we are concerned about. Will he,
therefore, go back to his department and say, “Restore these cuts
now”?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the department is currently—not in nine
months—reviewing funding decisions in relation to demining. As I
said, none of my ministerial colleagues and no one in the foreign
office disputes the importance of this work. Every penny that we
put into this programme is a penny that will contribute to saving
lives and we are very aware of that.
(Con)
My Lords, as a qualified bomb disposal officer, this is an area
in which I have some experience. I confirm that it is difficult,
dangerous and challenging work, and often poorly paid. The HALO
Trust is an exemplar, offering a five-week training package. I
witnessed its people finishing clearing the Falkland
Islands back in 2019. What assurances has the
department put in place to ensure that all charities offer
appropriate training packages for their workers and—crucially,
should the worst happen—appropriate insurance and compensation
packages for their workers as well?
of Richmond Park (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question and for his work in this
area. All FCDO contracts and NGOs are held to the highest
standards. GMAP 2 partner organisations have robust training and
monitoring processes in place to ensure the safety of their staff
and of the beneficiaries. The FCDO conducts due-diligence
assurance checks on all areas of their work, including staff
training and safeguarding before any funding is released.
(Lab)
My Lords, in April 2017 the then International Development
Secretary, , standing alongside Prince
Harry at a Landmine Free 2025 event, announced the UK’s funding
commitment and said of humanitarian demining:
“Global Britain has a historic role in tackling the
indiscriminate and lethal legacy of landmines … We have a moral
duty to act - and it is in our national interest to act.”
Until we discharge that moral duty and until it is no longer in
our interests, we should not reduce our investment in either of
them by one penny.
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the UK remains a leading donor in this sector,
notwithstanding the recent cuts, and our demining work will
continue to save lives. We are committed to all of our
international treaty obligations. We are finalising our plans for
GMAP3—the global mine action programme. As I said a few times, we
will release details as soon as we can.
(Con)
My Lords, it has been only in the last few weeks that NGOs have
heard that the cuts they will face will be between 75% and 80%,
so I welcome the confirmation from my noble friend the Minister
that this is being reviewed. Could he tell me when this review
will be completed and assure the House that we will be informed
of its findings?
of Richmond Park (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I will have to get
back to her in writing when I have a date that I can share.
of Cheltenham (LD) [V]
The Indo-Pacific is a region that is heavily contaminated with
landmines and unexploded bombs, and is set to lose UK funding
despite the Government’s ambition to strengthen their relations
and influence there. In fact, Vietnam will no longer receive any
funding at all. What assessment has been made of the impact this
will have on UK relations in this region? Will the Government
commit today to reinstate Vietnam’s funding to rid that country
of its dreadful mine legacy?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The legacy in Vietnam of live mines that are still in place is
appalling, of course. I know that our funding has been valued by
the Vietnamese Government and the Vietnamese people, and has
helped to support wider diplomatic objectives. I cannot make any
commitments on funding today, other than to say that those
decisions that were recently made are being reviewed. I hope they
will be reviewed as quickly as possible and that we will be able
to continue the work that this House is rightly proud of.
(Con)
My Lords, some 15 years ago I was chairman of the Halo Trust,
which has been mentioned, and a very good organisation it was
too. I was also on the DfID Select Committee for some six years.
I have seen that not all international aid from Britain is well
spent: a lot of it ends up in overseas bank accounts, fast cars
and weaponry. However, the Halo Trust got the money and spent it
on exactly what it said it would. I plead with my noble friend,
when the Government review it, to look at what is achieved. I saw
the Halo Trust achieving fantastic things around the world.
of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Lord is right. There will never be enough public money
to resolve the various issues we are committed to help resolve
around the world—this being an important one, but just one. It is
incumbent on us to ensure that, when we invest money, it is
invested as well as it can be. The point he makes about the Halo
Trust is a view that I know is shared by colleagues in the
Foreign Office. I will convey his words back to colleagues.
