Lords Committee questioned FCO Minister on the EU’s Afghan Police Mission
26 October 2010
The House of Lords EU Sub Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy took evidence on Thursday 28 October, as part of its inquiry into the EU Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL), from Alistair Burt MP, Karen Pierce and James Kariuki.
The Committee asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State responsible for Afghanistan about challenges faced by the Mission, such as staffing levels, funding and relations with Brussels and Member States, and actions being taken by the Government to assist EUPOL overcome such challenges. Problems that the Afghan National Police need to confront, including corruption and organised crime, was also a subject of questioning by the Committee, which wanted to find out how these problems affect the EUPOL operation.
The Committee took evidence from the following at 10.30am on Thursday 28 October:
- Alistair Burt MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State responsible for Afghanistan and South Asia, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation
- Karen Pierce, Director for South Asia and Afghanistan and UK Special Representative for Afghanistan & Pakistan, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- James Kariuki, European Correspondent and Head of Europe Global Group, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on EUPOL
Other areas of questioning included how EUPOL has been assisting the Afghan government in developing a viable police strategy, and whether more should be being done to deliver community policing.
The evidence session took place in Committee Room 2A of the House of Lords.