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Overseas Missions
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the differences in the activities of a British Council office and a Foreign and Commonwealth Office mission abroad. [112005]
Mr. Hain: The British Council is the United Kingdom's principal agency for cultural relations abroad. Its overseas offices engage in a range of people-to-people activities in pursuit of the FCO's cultural policy objectives. Foreign and Commonwealth Office missions overseas engage primarily in government-to-government relations across the range of the Department's objectives. The activities of British Council offices and our diplomatic missions are carefully co-ordinated to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication or overlap.
UK/China Forum
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the role of the UK/China Forum in creating closer links between the UK and China. [112015]
Mr. Battle: The UK-China Forum is a high-level non-Governmental organisation, whose membership is drawn from senior individuals in the worlds of politics, business and industry, the law, education, science and technology, the media and the arts. The purpose is to develop contacts at all levels between Britain and China, with the aim of building stronger links between the two countries.
The first meeting of the Forum, held in London on 21 and 22 October 1999, identified a number of areas where bilateral contacts and joint activities could be strengthened. Preparations are now underway for the second meeting of the Forum, to be held in Beijing in October 2000.
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Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list his Department's programme and that of its Agencies to implement the proposals set out in paragraph 44 of his report on the OSCE Istanbul summit relating to police activities and training. [112130]
Mr. Vaz:
We currently provide 10 UK police officers to the Police Monitor Group within the OSCE Mission to Croatia. Their role is to ensure the local police force continues to improve in its professionalism. In addition, we also provided 40 UK police officers to the OSCE Police Training School in Kosovo. Their role is to recruit and train a multi-ethnic Kosovo Police Service in order to help them gain the skills and equipment needed to engage effectively in police activities.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role Britain is playing in international efforts to bring peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the surrounding states, with particular reference to Rwanda and Uganda; and if he will make a statement. [111782]
Mr. Hain:
Britain is playing an active and constructive role in international efforts to resolve the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our aim now is to: help all the parties, including Rwanda and Uganda, implement the Lusaka Agreement; support the early deployment of the UN observer force to DRC as soon as conditions allow; and get the national dialogue on the future of DRC under way; and keep DRC at the top of the international agenda.
We are also providing practical support: British officers are deployed in the region as part of the UN mission; and we have made contributions of £160,000 for the Joint Military Commission, and £25,000 for the National Dialogue. We are ready to do more, as the parties actively demonstrate their commitment to the Lusaka Agreement.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the numbers of child soldiers in Sudan; what assessment he has made of the number of other countries in Africa where child soldiers are being used in significant numbers; and what steps the Government are taking to alleviate this problem. [112324]
Mr. Hain:
There are no reliable estimates of the number of child soldiers in Sudan. Over the past year, reports of the use of child soldiers in Africa, including internal conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Angola.
We are committed to bringing to an end the use of child soldiers which is in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our approach is based on a combination of: support for international efforts in this field, in particular the work of the UN Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict; strengthening international standards; urging the
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governments concerned to tackle this abuse; and, with the Department for International Development, support for practical measures to address this issue.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many international police officers have been deployed to Kosovska Mitrovica. [112103]
Mr. Hain:
The United Nations report that on 28 February 2000 there were 541 international police officers in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many police from the United Kingdom have been deployed, and how many have been pledged to be deployed, to (a) Kosovo, (b) Pristina and (c) Kosovska Mitrovica. [112104]
Mr. Hain:
The United Kingdom has deployed 60 police officers to the United Nations International Police (UNIP) in Kosovo. In response to a UN request, we are increasing that contribution to 120 officers. We have also recently increased our contribution to the OSCE-run school training the future Kosovo police service from 32 to 40 officers. We are also considering deployment of additional specialists to help combat organised crime in Kosovo.
The United Nations is responsible for determining where UNIP officers are deployed. Of the 60 UK officers with UNIP, 59 are based in Pristina and the surrounding area (the most densely populated region of Kosovo).
A senior UK police officer has been deployed full-time to Mitrovica (as the Deputy Regional Commander) and several officers have been on short-term secondments to the Mitrovica region. 230 UK troops, from the Royal Green Jackets, were also deployed to Mitrovica between 15 and 22 February.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about funding for the British Council in Africa. [112327]
Mr. Hain:
The grant in aid allocated by the British Council to its African directorates from 1994-95 to 1999-2000 has increased in cash terms from £13 million to £14 million (though this represents a 6 per cent. reduction in real terms). However, the overall level of activity undertaken by the Council in Africa over the same period has declined from £106 million to £59 million, as the result of a downturn in the management of development and training contracts.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been made to him by the United Nations requesting troops for the Sierra Leone peacekeeping operation. [112326]
Mr. Hain:
We strongly support the UN's efforts in Sierra Leone to create a climate of confidence for the implementation of the Lome Peace Agreement.
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We were asked by the UN to provide military observers and logistical support to the UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL. We currently deploy 15 military observers to the force Observer Group, including the Group's Chief of Staff, and an eight-man movement control detachment to assist the rapid deployment of troop contingents in-country. We have also offered the UN assistance with airlift of troops and/or equipment.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the second report of the Secretary-General, pursuant to Security Council resolution 12780 (1999) on the United Nations missions in Sierra Leone, in particular the report's assessment of the United Nations' ability to maintain a major military presence in Sierra Leone. [112325]
Mr. Hain:
We agree with the Secretary-General's assessment that the establishment and maintenance of security in Sierra Leone is essential to the success of the Lome Peace Agreement. We therefore supported his recommendation that the UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL, be substantially expanded to take on some of the security tasks formerly carried out by the departing Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS)' peacekeeping force, ECOMOG. We strongly backed UN Security Council Resolution 1289 of 7 February which authorised the deployment of up to 11,100 troops and observers.
We also agree with the Secretary-General that the UN, already under considerable resource pressure, will not be able to maintain a major military presence in Sierra Leone for a prolonged period; and that the responsibility for the success of the peace process ultimately lies with the people and leaders of Sierra Leone.
In order to help Sierra Leone to take responsibility for its own security, we are working closely with the Government of Sierra Leone to help rebuild new, democratically accountable Sierra Leone armed forces, and a new police force.
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the situation in Sierra Leone; and if he will make a statement. [111982]
Mr. Hain:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Mr. Shaw) on 15 February 2000, Official Report, column 762.
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