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Zimbabwe
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met representatives of farmers in Zimbabwe; and if he will place the minutes of that meeting in the Library. [116494]
Mr. Hain: The High Commission in Harare is in regular touch with the Commercial Farmers' Union. They have not sought a meeting in London.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many farmers in Zimbabwe are British passport holders. [116493]
Mr. Hain: We have no precise figures of how many Zimbabwe farmers hold British passports. British passport holders are not obliged to register their presence with the High Commission in Harare.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Commonwealth Secretary General calling on him to suspend Zimbabwe from the high-level group formed by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. [116893]
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requests he has made to the Zimbabwean Government to allow election observers to attend the forthcoming general election. [116899]
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to President Mugabe concerning the (a) postponement of the general election and (b) invasion of farms. [116969]
Mr. Hain: We have not made representations to President Mugabe about the postponement of the elections. On farm invasions, I spoke to the Vice-President on 6 March and wrote to the Foreign Minister on 7 March. My right hon. Friend, the Development Secretary, wrote to the Vice-President on 15 March.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are for the emergency evacuation of British passport holders from Zimbabwe. [116891]
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Mr. Hain:
We have a Civil Contingency Plan for Zimbabwe, as we do for many other countries. The Contingency Plan is designed to help the British community in a crisis, and in a worst case scenario, to provide for their evacuation. The Contingency Plan comes into effect if there is a breakdown in law and order leading to a significant risk to the safety of British nationals. We do not believe this is the case in Zimbabwe and our travel advice reflects that view. Our travel advice, and the safety of British nationals, is kept under constant review.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials have been sent to Zimbabwe in the last 12 months to enhance the consular operation there. [116896]
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Zimbabwean nationals are currently in possession of (a) a UK work permit and (b) a holiday working visa. [116898]
Mr. Vaz:
A total of 526 work permits were approved by the Overseas Labour Service for Zimbabwean nationals in 1998 and 905 in 1999.
Our High Commission in Harare issued 389 working holiday-maker visas in 1998 and 303 in 1999. However, since visa statistics are not collected on the basis of the nationality of applicants, these figures may include applications made in Harare by non-Zimbabwean nationals. Figures for the number of Zimbabweans applying for working holiday-maker visas at entry clearance posts worldwide are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met (a) civil and (b) human rights organisations to discuss Zimbabwe; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings. [116894]
Mr. Hain:
We are in close and regular touch with civil and human rights organisations in Zimbabwe through our High Commission in Harare.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many residents of Zimbabwe are eligible for British passports; and how many British passport holders there are in Zimbabwe. [116892]
Mr. Hain:
We cannot provide exact figures because British nationals are not obliged to register with the High Commission in Harare. Our High Commission currently have 6,700 British nationals and some 5,000 dual British/Zimbabwe nationals registered. Actual numbers will be higher.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK visa applications have been received in the last 12 months from Zimbabwean nationals. [116897]
Mr. Vaz:
Zimbabweans do not normally require visas before travelling to the United Kingdom though some in certain categories may do so. However, statistics on visa applications received worldwide are not collected on the basis of the nationality of applicants. We do not therefore have figures for the number of Zimbabweans applying at entry clearance posts worldwide. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. McCabe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterparts concerning the exchange between the UK and Russia of anti-terrorist information, with particular reference to Chechnya. [116563]
Mr. Battle:
The Foreign Secretary discussed counter terrorism and Chechnya when he met the Russian Foreign Minister and the then Acting President Putin in February this year. It was agreed that the UK and Russia should continue to work together in combating terrorism.
Ms Oona King:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received concerning the impact of the Public Safety Act (Special Powers) introduced by the Government of Bangladesh on 30 January. [116671]
Mr. Hain:
There are reports of some arrests under the Public Safety Act. Our High Commissioner has raised our concerns about the Act with Bangladeshi Ministers. We continue to monitor the situation.
Mr. Browne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government are doing to ensure that the commitments agreed at the OSCE Istanbul Summit concerning Russian withdrawal from the Transdniestrian region of Moldova are met. [117385]
Mr. Vaz:
Her Majesty's Government fully support the OSCE Istanbul Declaration on Moldova, which called for complete withdrawal of Russian troops, armaments and ammunition from Moldovan territory by the end of 2002. Her Majesty's Government regularly emphasise the need to comply with this agreement in our discussions with the Russians, Moldovans and Ukrainians (the latter as guarantors of the peace). The Declaration agreed to consider the establishment of a voluntary fund for international assistance to facilitate the withdrawal. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has contributed £100,000 to this fund from its ASSIST budget.
An international Needs Assessment Mission to explore the removal and destruction of the ammunition and armaments is negotiating for access to Transdniestria. The UK is planning to contribute military experts to this Mission.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the death sentences passed on three Iranian Baha'is and a sentence of 10 years prison imposed on a fourth in the city of Mashad and the impact this will have on the Anglo-Iranian dialogue on human rights. [117221]
Mr. Hain:
We remain concerned at reports of the death sentences passed on Mr. Najafabadi, Mr. Moghaddam and Mr. Khulusi in Mashad on 3 February. The picture has been somewhat confused by the recent statement by Mr. Sadeqi, spokesman for the Iranian Judiciary, that no such sentences had been passed. The Portuguese Presidency, on behalf of EU partners, presented a
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demarche to the Iranian authorities expressing our concern and seeking clarification as to the current status of these three gentlemen on 17 February. This was followed up with a further demarche in Tehran on 19 February. We took similar bilateral action with the Iranian Ambassador on 21 February. I raised this issue with Deputy Foreign Minister Sarmadi on 6 March.
Iran is aware of our serious concern about the Baha'is. Persecution of individuals on religious grounds is totally unacceptable.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government will give to the resolution condemning Iran at the Commission on Human Rights in relation to the death sentences passed on three members of the Baha'i community in Iran on 3 February. [117220]
Mr. Hain:
We, in conjunction with our EU partners, have drafted and will table the resolution to which the hon. Gentleman refers. We hope that the resolution will accurately reflect the human rights situation in Iran, both the improvements and the outstanding concerns such as the plight of the Baha'i community, as did the EU-sponsored resolution on human rights in Iran adopted at the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December.
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