Extracts from Opposition day debate (Commons) on Refugees and
Human Rights Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury)
(Lab):...We know that Myanmar simply will not act without external
pressure—not on consent for repatriation, and not on the guarantees
the Rohingya need regarding their future security, citizenship and
economic viability. Will the Minister, finally, use our role as the
UN penholder on this issue to submit a Security Council resolution
to ensure legally binding...Request free
trial
Extracts from
Opposition day debate (Commons) on Refugees and Human
Rights
(Islington South and
Finsbury) (Lab):...We know that Myanmar simply will not
act without external pressure—not on consent for repatriation, and
not on the guarantees the Rohingya need regarding their future
security, citizenship and economic viability. Will the Minister,
finally, use our role as the UN penholder on this issue to submit a
Security Council resolution to ensure legally binding guarantees on
and international monitoring of all these issues? Until we get
those guarantees, will he urge India and Japan to withdraw their
offer to fund the planned repatriation?
(Chippenham)
(Con):...We do have a vital role to play, and we are
playing it, but we also need to continue to encourage other nations
to do more. The UK was the quickest to act, with a third of all aid
pledged by November 2017, and we are in fact one of the largest
donors, while Bangladesh has opened its doors and is now at
breaking point. It is estimated that international funds will run
out by February. February is next month. That was why I was
delighted that, in response, the UK provided £12 million for
urgently needed food. But the reality is that international funds
will run out, and our Government have repeatedly pressed the
Burmese military to end the inhumane violence and guarantee
unrestricted humanitarian access. However, we must also use our
international position to demand greater action from our
international partners, particularly India and China, to support their
neighbour...
The Minister for Asia and the Pacific (Mark
Field):...Climate change presents the most urgent and
existential threat. It is indisputably one of the major drivers of
migration and global insecurity. In 2016 alone, three times as many
people were displaced by natural disasters as by conflict. In
recent months, we have seen many extreme weather events, from
drought in Somalia to hurricanes in the Caribbean and floods
in India and Bangladesh. Last week at
the United Nations, I heard impassioned pleas for help from the
representatives of small island developing states, whose countries
are already being affected by climate change...
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Extract from Lords
debate on Water: Developing Countries
(CB):...We now have problems, and they can only get worse.
We have a demographic time-bomb already exploding. For instance,
the population of the Sahel region of Africa has grown by more than
100 million in the last 10 years and is likely to continue to grow
at that rate for the next three or four decades. There is less and
less rainfall in the region, and already the soil is degrading
faster than we can control. Meanwhile, the situation
in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where more than
1 billion people live, is not much better. In India alone they are extracting from their
aquifers 100 cubic kilometres of water more than the recharge rate.
Some agricultural areas of China, and even of the USA, have similar
problems. According to a UN study, 50 million people will be forced
to leave their homes over the next 10 years because of drought and
land degradation...
...So what can we in the UK do to make a difference? First, we have
some of the best hydrological research institutions in the world:
the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the British Geological
Survey and several universities with world-calibre research
facilities. I should at this point declare an interest as chair of
the CEH advisory council. Our organisations can do more than most
to inform the debate around the world over the best sustainable
management of the rivers, lakes and aquifers of the developing
world. While their expertise is desperately needed to deal with the
already glaring problems throughout India and eastern Asia, I suggest that the
greatest long-term gain will come from focusing on the sustainable
management of water in sub-Saharan Africa—before the real problems
arise...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
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