The cash has been handed out without any checks on foreign
regimes’ records on human rights or environmental issues, an
MPs’ investigation has found.
Much of the money has been spent on arms, including
British-made Hawk jets and 1,000 police Land-Rovers, which have
been used to crush dissent in Zimbabwe.
Taxpayers’ money was also lent to autocratic leaders such as
president Suharto in Indonesia and Gen Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
However, £2.35billion of the loans, including to Iran, Burma
and North Korea – a debt dating back to 1972 – remains unpaid.
The cash was dished out by UK Export Finance, the official body
which lends foreign governments money to buy British goods.
The organisation, once dubbed the ‘department of dodgy deals’,
makes no human rights or environmental checks on loans under
£10million.
Among its biggest debtors are Omar al-Bashir’s civil war-torn
Sudan, which owes £682million, Indonesia with debts of
£412million, Iraq, which owes £283million, and Zimbabwe with
debts of £197million.
Also highlighted was lending for the BP-backed
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which breached 170 World Bank
and European standards on human rights and the environment.
The figures are revealed in a cross-party report being
published Wednesday. It calls for more stringent standards for
loans and penalties for companies breaching them.
MPs also want the funds made more easily available to smaller
businesses rather than corporate giants which usually get the
backing.
Amnesty International welcomed the report, saying it put UKEF’s
record properly under the spotlight.
Ann Feltham, from Campaign Against Arms Trade, added: ‘It is
wrong that we are selling arms to repressive regimes and it is
wrong that taxpayers are underwriting the costs.’
UKEF insisted it ‘abides by international agreements that apply
to the operations of export credit agencies, including those on
anti-bribery, environmental, human rights and social impacts and
sustainable lending’.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/919210-dictators-use-taxpayers-cash-to-fund-repression-and-violence-across-world#ixzz2DVzWhYye
The cash has been handed out without any checks on foreign
regimes’ records on human rights or environmental issues, an
MPs’ investigation has found.
Much of the money has been spent on arms, including
British-made Hawk jets and 1,000 police Land-Rovers, which
have been used to crush dissent in Zimbabwe.
Taxpayers’ money was also lent to autocratic leaders such as
president Suharto in Indonesia and Gen Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
However, £2.35billion of the loans, including to Iran, Burma
and North Korea – a debt dating back to 1972 – remains
unpaid.
The cash was dished out by UK Export Finance, the official
body which lends foreign governments money to buy British
goods.
The organisation, once dubbed the ‘department of dodgy
deals’, makes no human rights or environmental checks on loans
under £10million.
Among its biggest debtors are Omar al-Bashir’s civil war-torn
Sudan, which owes £682million, Indonesia with debts of
£412million, Iraq, which owes £283million, and Zimbabwe with
debts of £197million.
Also highlighted was lending for the BP-backed
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which breached 170 World Bank
and European standards on human rights and the environment.
The figures are revealed in a cross-party report being
published Wednesday. It calls for more stringent standards for
loans and penalties for companies breaching them.
MPs also want the funds made more easily available to smaller
businesses rather than corporate giants which usually get the
backing.
Amnesty International welcomed the report, saying it put
UKEF’s record properly under the spotlight.
Ann Feltham, from Campaign Against Arms Trade, added: ‘It is
wrong that we are selling arms to repressive regimes and it is
wrong that taxpayers are underwriting the costs.’
UKEF insisted it ‘abides by international agreements that
apply to the operations of export credit agencies, including
those on anti-bribery, environmental, human rights and social
impacts and sustainable lending’.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/919210-dictators-use-taxpayers-cash-to-fund-repression-and-violence-across-world#ixzz2DVzWhYye
