Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Coussins (Crossbench). It was answered on Wednesday, 23 November 2011.

Colombia

Question: My Lords, what advice do the Government provide for British companies operating in Colombia to help them to comply with the ILO Convention No. 169, which gives indigenous populations the right to free and informed consent to projects that will affect them? There have been disturbing reports of companies that wish to exploit indigenous lands by colluding with misinformation campaigns and forced mass displacement. Can the Minister assure the House that no British companies are involved in such activities and, instead, that they are encouraged to help the new Colombian Government to deliver on their commitments to human rights?

Answer: I can assure the noble Baroness that the embassy meets regularly with representatives of indigenous communities and discusses these things. More specifically, as with other embassies, we encourage and expect British companies to respect human rights in the places where they do business. Both the UKTI and the Bogota embassy provide advice, including on prior consultation, for British companies to ensure that this happens. The embassy also has monitored very closely two particular companies where there were concerns, and I could certainly inform the noble Baroness, if she so wishes, at any time on the details of how they got on. But the answer broadly is that, yes, this is the way we wish to move and, although there are British interests in some of these companies, they have been under very close monitoring and pressure and there has been some improvement.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 732 c1056
Session: 2010-12
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Human rights Mining Overseas companies Colombia Indigenous peoples Environment protection
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk