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Portuguese Embassy

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Portuguese Ambassador requesting that he require staff at his office in London to acknowledge and respond to correspondence from hon. Members. [130845]

Mr. MacShane: The Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires has assured the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the Portuguese Embassy are committed to responding to all correspondence which they receive, including that from hon. Members.

Russia

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he and (b) members of his Department have had in 2003 with representatives of the Russian Government concerning the security situation in (i) Ingushetia and (ii) North Ossetia-Alania; and if he will make a statement. [131335]

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Mr. Rammell: We regularly discuss the security situation in the North Caucasus, including Ingushetia and North Ossetia, with representatives of the Russian Government, e.g. at the annual human rights talks at senior official level in March 2003.

We remain concerned about the security and human rights situation in Chechnya and the surrounding republics. We have noted with concern recent bombings throughout the North Caucasus, including the bombings in Mozdok, North Ossetia, and most recently of the Federal Security Service headquarters in Magas, Ingushetia. We also monitor carefully the humanitarian and security situation of Internally Displaced People in the North Caucasus, particularly those in tent camps in Ingushetia.

Sierra Leone

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral Answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, 11 September 2003, Official Report, columns 169–70WH, which countries and organisations have been approached by the UK Government for additional funding for the UN special court in Sierra Leone. [130909]

Mr. Rammell: The Government has lobbied more than 40 states. These have included EU partners as well as selected Asian, Middle Eastern and African states. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has written in person to his colleagues in 10 states and has put the issue of funding for the Special Court for Sierra Leone on the agenda of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the EU on 29 September. The Government has also approached the European Commission on this issue.

Sudan

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring is being undertaken by the British Government of human rights abusers in Sudan. [130570]

Mr. Mullin: There has been no formal human rights monitoring mechanism in place since the defeat of the EU sponsored resolution on Sudan at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 16 April. This resulted in the termination of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. However, the British embassy in Khartoum continues to monitor human rights abuses and raises them with the Government of Sudan bilaterally and as part of the EU/Sudan Dialogue. We also part-fund the work of the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) which documents human rights abuses.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the suppression of the media in parts of the Sudan. [130571]

Mr. Mullin: On 9 August President Beshir announced the complete lifting of press censorship. The British embassy in Khartoum will monitor the implementation of this arrangement.

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UN Arms Embargoes

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to encourage national legislatures, with particular reference to countries which produce military or paramilitary equipment, to increase the number of UN arms embargoes that they enact at a national level. [131135]

Mr. Rammell: The UK fully supports UN sanctions. We try to ensure that other States follow suit. The UK has lobbied countries believed to be involved in embargo breaches both unilaterally and multilaterally. Lobbying regarding sanctions enforcement often occurs during high-level ministerial visits.

In addition, officials from the FCO, MOD, DTI and HM Customs and Excise undertake regular Export Control Outreach visits to raise awareness about responsible export controls, licensing and enforcement. Since 2001, the UK has held bilateral talks with Bosnia, China, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Israel, Macau, Malta, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Ukraine.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has taken steps to encourage the UN Security Council to develop a list of (a) military, (b) paramilitary, (c) police and (d) dual-use equipment to which UN arms embargoes will apply. [131148]

Mr. Rammell: The Bonn-Berlin process (a German initiative involving the UN Secretariat and supported by the UK) on the design and implementation of arms embargoes and travel and aviation related sanctions in 2001, considered the question of whether the UN Security Council should adopt lists of military goods to which UN arms embargoes would apply. The participants concluded that it was important to agree a list of goods prior to the introduction of a UN resolution with the assistance of the UN Secretariat. If there were divergent views on the list, arbitration should be provided by the UN Secretary-General.

However, due to lack of consensus among Security Council members, these proposals were never adopted. UK sanctions policy focuses upon and encourages the use of sanctions that are appropriately targeted and effectively implemented and enforced. The UK therefore continues to support the adoption of lists of military equipment to which UN arms embargoes would apply.

United Nations (Sanctions)

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on supporting increased (a) funding and (b) resources available to the UN's sanction committees. [131132]

Mr. Rammell: The UK contributes to UN sanctions committees through assessed contributions on an annual basis. Mandates for funding are set out by the Security Council. These mandates are ratified by the General Assembly, who in turn approves the budget. HMG wants to see all the sanctions committees

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functioning effectively; through appropriate funding and resources, but to date support for increased funding for sanctions committees has not been necessary.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he has given towards the creation of a dedicated sanctions unit within the UN Secretariat. [131131]

Mr. Rammell: The UK and France drafted a joint proposal in 2001 for an independent sanctions monitoring mechanism to improve the Security Council's capacity to monitor targeted sanctions regimes it has established. After considerable discussion among Council members, the proposal stalled as some members were opposed to it. The Government are currently considering whether we should re-initiate discussions on this proposal again in the near future.

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-settlement visa applications were (a) received, (b) determined and (c) refused at entry clearance posts worldwide in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2002 and (iv) 2003 to date. [131100]

Mr. Mullin: The information is as follows.

		Non-settlement visas issued
	Received	Issued	Refused
2000	1,616,790	1,431,283	110,391
FY 2001–02	1,687,816	1,471,458	164,916
FY 2002–03	1,714,167	1,465,472	166,462

The table above shows the number of non-settlement visa applications received, issued and refused at entry clearance posts worldwide each year since 2000. Since 2001, statistics have been collated by financial year (1 April to 31 March) rather than calendar year.

The discrepancies in these figures are due to the fact that applications can be carried forward from one month to the next before being resolved, and applications can be withdrawn during processing and still count as an application received. Posts are also required to count all applications received (a mother and three children on one passport may count as four applications, but one entry clearance may be issued).

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) short-term and (b) long-term student visa applications were (i) received, (ii) determined and (iii) refused at entry clearance posts worldwide in each month since 1 January 2002. [131101]

Mr. Mullin: Worldwide statistics for student visas are collated by financial year (1 April to 31 March) only, and are not available on a monthly basis. The statistics do not distinguish between short-term and long-term student visa applications. During the financial year 2002–03 the worldwide figures for the number of student visa applications that were received, determined and refused were as follows:

(i) Received applications—171,100

(ii) Determined applications—120,888

(iii) Refused applications—48,845

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