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Written Answers
Thursday, 27th June 2002.
World Hunger
Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What action they are taking to help ensure that the 1996 target of halving world hunger by 2015 is met. [HL4773]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos): The importance of the 1996 target was reaffirmed in the Millennium Summit declaration. The millennium development goals are at the centre of our work in fighting poverty and hunger. In the millennium declaration the international community explicitly linked hunger with the global poverty target. Transforming this commitment into action means tackling poverty and its root causes—and making sure that food security and nutrition concerns are integrated into poverty reduction processes.
The Department for International Development is responsible for leading the UK Government's contribution to achievement of the millennium goals. A wide range of actions implemented by DfID and described in the departmental report for 2002 help ensure that the hunger target is met. These include promoting broad economic growth; better education, health and social protection; revitalising agriculture; and working to assure improved governance, peace and democracy. They have produced two key documents, one on the subject of Eliminating Hunger and a consultation paper on the role of agriculture in poverty reduction. The development community has recognised these as important contributions to the policy debate. The department worked to influence the negotiation of the World Food Summit declaration in line with this analysis and will be following through at WSSD.
But progress towards the hunger targets is too slow. In many countries the number of hungry people in increasing. The international community urgently needs to reconsider its approaches and policies to tackle hunger if we are to meet the global hunger target. We attach importance to the role of trade liberalisation in helping to achieve food security for all. Tackling hunger will require significant progress in the opening up of access to agricultural markets, particularly by developed countries. We want to see substantial cuts by developed countries in agricultural support that distorts trade. We are pushing for large reductions in all forms of export subsidies and the untying of food aid from agricultural surpluses in developed countries. And we are helping to build capacity in developing countries to negotiate and engage with international processes such as the Doha Development Round.
We are one of the largest providers of extra-budgetary funds to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. We are also a significant contributor to the international agricultural research system that underpins productivity increases by poor farmers in developing countries.
In our work with developing countries we are highlighting areas where greater efforts are needed to eliminate hunger. These include ensuring that poverty reduction strategies focus on hunger; helping create better domestic policy frameworks for agriculture; increasing access to knowledge from which to make informed decisions about technology choice; generating better responses for coping with conflict and natural disasters; developing social protection mechanisms to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable; and improving capacity to assess food insecurity so that we can identify who is vulnerable and why.
The paper Eliminating Hunger, together with DfID's 2002 departmental report, will be placed in the Library of the House.
Race Directive
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, when implementing the European Union Race Directive in United Kingdom legislation, they intend to provide that the directive's provisions apply to indirect discrimination based on nationality as well as to indirect discrimination based on race and ethnicity. [HL4760]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Filkin): Implementing the EC Article 13 Race Directive will involve making a number of amendments to the Race Relations Act 1976, including amending the existing definition of indirect discrimination.
We are considering views which we received about this and other issues in the light of the proposals we set out in our public consultation document Towards Equality and Diversity. More detailed proposals will be published in the autumn.
Trafficking People
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is their intention to amend Schedule 2, paragraph 3, of the Proceeds of Crime Bill (people trafficking) when the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill is enacted to incorporate the new offence of people trafficking as defined in that Bill. [HL4797]
Lord Filkin: It is our intention to ensure that the offence in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill of trafficking people for the purpose of controlling them in prostitution is added to Schedule 2, paragraph 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Bill.
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to provide support and assistance to victims of trafficking as outlined in Article 6 of the United Nations Protocol on Trafficking with regard to making available legal, social and other support services to trafficked women working in the sex industry. [HL4806]
Lord Filkin: The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to sign the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) Protocol on the trafficking of human beings and is fully committed to implementing its measures.
We set out in the White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain that we are committed to offering the victims of trafficking particular support so that they can escape their circumstances and, in certain cases, help law enforcement against organised criminals. Where they are willing to come forward to the authorities we shall make special arrangements for their protection. We will also consider whether it would be appropriate to allow them to remain here.
Where they are to return home, we will assist them to do so, providing them with initial counselling, ensuring that they have suitable accommodation to return to and providing help to enable them to reintegrate into their own community and find employment.
We are currently discussing with the voluntary sector the best way of providing protection and support services for the victims of trafficking.
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to allow a "reflection delay" prior to the deportation of trafficked women as outlined in the European Commission discussion paper for a directive on short-term permits to stay granted to the victims of trafficking. [HL4807]
Lord Filkin: Arrangements already exist which enable the police to ask for someone subject to immigration control to be allowed to enter or remain in the United Kingdom where this would assist in the investigation of organised crime. These arrangements would permit a period of reflection but they are not offered automatically.
The United Kingdom view is that these arrangements are best considered on a case-by-case basis and that a blanket category of treatment is not the way forward. Any blanket grant is open to abuse and may create a perverse incentive for traffickers to exploit more victims by suggesting that they will be granted automatic reflection delays if they are trafficked.
European Arrest Warrant
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether and how they reconcile the assurances given by Lord Rooker on 23 April during the debate on the report of the EUC on the European arrest warrant that primary legislation would be necessary before the introduction of the measure (HL Deb, cols. 230–32) with their agreement to the proposals on 13 June in the Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Union. [HL4892]
Lord Filkin: The framework decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states were adopted at the Justice and Home Affair (JHA) Council on 13 June, following the lifting of all the remaining parliamentary scrutiny reserves.
The European arrest warrant will come into operation only if the Bill to give effect to it is approved by Parliament.
Extradition
Lord Stone of Blackheath asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to improve the UK extradition laws. [HL4972]
Lord Filkin: At present it takes too long to extradite someone from the United Kingdom. Not only is this against the interests of justice and the victims of crime but it is the British taxpayer that foots the bill: paying for the fugitive to be detained and often funding their legal battle.
The previous Home Secretary launched a review of extradition law and the Home Office published proposals for consultation in March last year. Since then the attacks on 11 September have added impetus to European Union (EU) plans for an EU-wide arrest warrant.
The Government have already announced that we intend to legislate to bring this into effect. This will dramatically speed up the extradition process between EU states but not at the expense of fugitives' rights.
It should also make it possible in some circumstances to return people to the United Kingdom who, under the old system, would not have been extradited.
We also plan to streamline procedures for non-EU countries too.
We are today publishing a consultation paper containing a draft Extradition Bill which outlines our proposals and invites all of those with an interest to comment.
An Extradition Bill will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
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