Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they made of the
outcomes of the first Global Refugee Forum, held in Geneva in
December 2019.
The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
( of Richmond Park) (Con)
My Lords, at the first Global Refugee Forum the international
community demonstrated its commitment to responding to the plight
of refugees and host communities, announcing pledges and sharing
examples of good practice. The UK underlined our leadership in
longer-term approaches, highlighting support for Syrian refugees
in Jordan and the Rohingya in Bangladesh.
(CB)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. Earlier this
year, my noble friend Lord Alton’s debate discussed the huge
number of refugees and displaced people. Now, the brutal invasion
of Ukraine has caused a whole new crisis. Does the noble Lord
agree that the Global Refugee Forum calls for continuous
co-operation between Governments and their officials? Can he give
the House some good news of progress, especially in relation to
eastern Europe and the Mediterranean?
of Richmond Park (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. Of course, he is right;
the UK is one of the High Commissioner for Refugees’ largest
financial supporters. We provided more than £714 million in
funding across bilateral and multilateral channels between 2016
and 2020, and the same is true in relation to other refugee and
migration-related organisations. We provided the International
Organization for Migration with around £89 million in 2020,
making us the third-largest donor. We were the second-largest
donor to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the second-largest donor to the International Committee
of the Red Cross—I could go on. The UK has a proud record of
supporting refugees globally.
(Lab)
My Lords, does it show leadership by this country when we take a
handful of Ukrainian refugees, and when we send those who arrive
in Calais to Paris or Brussels to get their papers sorted out? Is
that not a miserable response compared with Ireland, which has so
far taken nearly 700, has committed to taking 2% of all the
refugees and is talking about a figure of 100,000 to avoid
another Calais? Should we not be ashamed of ourselves?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The figure that has been quoted and to which I think the noble
Lord is referring—that the UK has so far accepted 50 people—is,
in reality, growing very significantly. To quote Minister
Cleverly from the other place, he says that we are looking to
create something very large-scale very quickly. Initially it will
be slower, but that will pick up. There is no doubt from the
words spoken by the Home Secretary, , today that we have created a
new system in record time, precisely to allow a far larger number
of refugees into this country.
(CB)
My Lords, we have all been ashamed, I think, to see the people in
the railway stations in places such as Berlin holding up placards
saying that they can host one person or two people. Many people
in this country would do the same thing. Why are the Government
not making this system available so that good people in this
country can help people in Ukraine?
of Richmond Park (Con)
We are creating exactly that system. We are creating a
humanitarian sponsorship pathway which will open up a route to
the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family ties with the UK
but who can match with individuals, charities, businesses and
community groups of the sort the noble Baroness just mentioned.
Those under this scheme would be granted leave for an initial 12
months. There is no limit to the number of people who could be
eligible for this scheme: we will welcome as many Ukrainians as
wish to come, if they have matched sponsors.
(Con)
My Lords, this weekend one of the problems seemed to be that
there are very few appointments available in the visa application
centres in Poland and other surrounding countries. The website
through which refugees are trying to access these visa schemes
could not cope with the capacity. Does the Minister know when
capacity will be in place so that the people fleeing Ukraine to
the neighbouring countries can get appointments, get their
documents checked and travel to the UK to be reunited with
family?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Baroness is right that there have been serious capacity
issues. We have just sent a group of UK experts to bolster the
UK’s support to countries surrounding Ukraine, to receive and
support the increasing flow of refugees fleeing that country. For
example, a four-person team has arrived in Poland to support the
regional response, providing logistics advice, analysis of needs
on the ground and so on. We are also deploying additional experts
right across the region in the coming days, including to Moldova
where we have humanitarian experts already stationed.
The Lord
My Lords, it was my privilege to speak at the resettlement
conference that happened before the Global Refugee Forum in
Geneva in 2019. One of the key lessons that came out of both
events was to listen to the voices of refugees in helping to
create the system, so that it is more effective. Could the
Minister tell us how the voices of refugees in this country are
being listened to in order to make the Ukraine system as
effective as possible?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The teams are designing an entirely new scheme for an entirely
new situation as quickly as possible. That is reflected in the
numbers that have so far been reported. But from everything we
have heard today— from the Foreign Secretary and the relevant
Minister—we are up and running and we are ready now to absorb
larger numbers of refugees from Ukraine.
(LD)
I referred a case to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, of a very frail
lady in her 90s who has been brought to my attention by World
Jewish Relief. She is in Warsaw and, as I say, she is very frail.
Will the Minister please return to his department and make sure
that her case is expedited? Her granddaughter is a UK citizen.
She clearly qualifies to come to the United Kingdom. She is very
frail, and she is an example of many others in that situation.
Can we make sure that, in this case, the Home Office is not
proving to be the kind of block that it has been over Afghan
refugees?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, I am not familiar with the case the noble Baroness
describes, but I assure her that I will convey her message back
to both the Foreign Office and the Home Office. We will do
whatever we can.
(CB)
My Lords, in Ukraine, there are a number of orphanages where
there are helpless children, who cannot do anything for
themselves. Could the noble Lord assure the House that thought
will be given to how we can protect these children, who have the
least in the world?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Lord makes a hugely important point. The answer is yes:
this is something that both the Home Office and the Foreign
Office are looking at. I would add that the UK has committed an
additional £120 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and
the region. That money will be used in many different ways, but
particularly in supporting those at the front line in terms of
vulnerability, of the sort that the noble Lord just
mentioned.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Government were prepared to disclose the figure of
50 refugees received from Ukraine. What is the current
figure?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, it is a very fast-moving situation. I do not know the
current figure, but I do know that there is no limit to the
number of people this country is willing and able to absorb, as I
described when outlining the policy just a few moments ago.
(Con)
My Lords, there was a moving interview on the television this
morning of a 25 year-old who has bought a bus and is going to
Ukraine to bring orphans back and move people around. Could the
Minister tell me what support the Government will give to such
people, who are going into this danger zone of their own
accord?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, as I said, we are creating pockets of expertise in
countries surrounding Ukraine, specifically to help them deal
with the escalating problem of people fleeing Ukraine. Without
knowing the details of the case my noble friend described, I
imagine that the occupants of that bus would be exactly the kind
of people those experts are there to support.
(Lab)
My Lords, the compact is from 2019, so we have had three years
that the international community should be addressing. One of the
things the International Rescue Committee has highlighted is that
women and girls are being left behind in the global effort
towards the ambitions of that compact. Can the Minister tell us
what we are doing to deal with the disadvantages they face in
terms of justice, inclusion and safety so that we respond
properly? In particular, how is he addressing this issue in the
context of Ukraine?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, stepping back and looking at the UK’s contribution to
tackling human migration, a problem that has become dramatically
worse in the last few days, we are one of the largest bilateral
humanitarian donors globally. Since 2015, we have provided over
£11 billion in humanitarian funding to support the most
vulnerable people, including of course a huge focus on women and
girls. This year, despite the cuts that have been questioned many
times in this House, we are on track to spend £900 million on
humanitarian aid. Despite us being the sixth-biggest economy in
the world, that represents about the third or fourth-largest
contribution of any country.
