Speeches

Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department are deployed outside the UK working on issues relating to Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

It is not possible to identify a precise figure for staff working on Yemen who are deployed outside of the UK, but the UK diplomatic network does regularly raise the situation in Yemen with their host government and other interlocutors, including the devastating humanitarian and economic situation. As the penholder in the UN Security Council on Yemen, the UK also plays an important role in rallying the international community behind the efforts of the UN Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in trying to reach a peaceful agreement between the Yemeni parties. Peace talks remain a top priority and we will continue to engage with key partners through our overseas network.