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Tanzania

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports he has received on food security in Tanzania; and if he will make a statement. [136620]

Hilary Benn: The Government of Tanzania has submitted reports to development partners on food security and the distribution of around 16,000 MT of subsidised food from their Strategic Grain Reserve. I have been receiving further updates on the situation from the DFID office in Dar es Salaam. WFP approved an Emergency Operation on 20 October to provide additional assistance to drought affected persons. DFID is considering its response to this appeal.

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Zimbabwe

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the closure of the regional hospital in the Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe. [136274]

Hilary Benn: Shangani hospital serves a population in Matabeleland South Province that includes about 12,500 newly resettled families in a former commercial farming area.

At the end of September 2003, Shangani hospital announced that it had ceased to admit patients because it had run out of food. This occurred despite Government of Zimbabwe policy that all hospitals and other key institutions have priority for access to food supplied by the Grain Marketing Board, which is a parastatal. In response, the chair of the Provincial Food Task Force promised to provide food to the hospital on an emergency basis and to undertake an investigation into the situation.

Shangani hospital is now operating again, although shortages of food, ambulances and fuel persist.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the interruptions to the water supply in Harare, Zimbabwe. [136275]

Hilary Benn: Several cities and towns of Zimbabwe are being affected by the interruption of their water supplies to varying degrees. The lack of provision of foreign exchange by the central government imposes a serious constraint on local government's capacity to purchase water treatment chemicals. In addition, the country is coming towards the end of the dry season resulting in very low levels in the main reservoirs.

It is hoped the recent rains will have helped the situation, as well as the anticipation of normal rainfall this year. The Harare city council so far is managing to ensure clean water supplies to Harare, and has begun to receive some support to import chemicals from donors following a request through the United Nations. There has recently been a general improvement in supplies as the city council took active action to deal with the situation including a hosepipe ban.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the trends in (a) poppy cultivation and (b) the heroin trade in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement on its impact on the country's stability. [135847]

Mr. Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today (UIN135856).

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with (a) the UN, (b) international partners and (c) farmers in Afghanistan regarding the

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measures which need to be taken to meet the target set in the 2002 Spending Review to contribute to the reduction of opium production in Afghanistan. [136536]

Mr. Straw: We are working closely with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to support the Afghan government in achieving its target of eliminating opium within 10 years. We also consult regularly with other key donors, as this is not something we can achieve on our own. We are organising an international conference, co-hosted with the Afghan Government and UNODC that will take place in Kabul in February 2004 with the aim of encouraging wider international community support. The UK also provided financial and human resources to the latest UNODC Farmers Intentions Study. This has helped us to ascertain the best methods of ensuring that Afghan farmers cease to grow opium poppy and pursue alternative livelihoods.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department is taking to meet the target set in the 2002 Spending Review to contribute to the reduction of opium production in Afghanistan; and what estimate he has made of changes to the size of the opium harvest in Afghanistan in each of the next three years. [136537]

Mr. Straw: The Afghan Transitional Authority (ATA) adopted its National Drug Control Strategy on 19 May 2003. Its objective is to reduce opium poppy cultivation by 70 per cent. in five years and by 100 per cent. in 10 years. The UK is committed to helping the ATA achieve this objective and has prepared a balanced programme of counter-narcotics activity to support implementation of the Afghan strategy. We have committed £70 million over three years and additional personnel are currently being posted to Afghanistan. It is difficult to assess expected cultivation levels in each year but we do not expect progress to be linear. Experience of counter-narcotics policies in other countries, such as Thailand and Pakistan, shows that cultivation tends to increase before declining. Cultivation also tends to move from traditional areas to more marginal and inaccessible areas to protect crops against law enforcement activity. Progress in the initial years of assistance towards reducing opium levels will also be dependent upon wider improvements in security and governance.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on poppy production in Afghanistan. [136621]

Mr. Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 30 October 2003, Official Report, column 20WS, regarding the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey results for the 2003 opium poppy crop in Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Azeri Government since the election of

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Ilham Aliev as President regarding (a) the conduct of the recent elections in Azerbaijan and (b) arrests of opposition supporters. [136433]

Mr. MacShane: The EU issued a statement on 23 October expressing regret for the shortcomings in the electoral process in Azerbaijan, while acknowledging that it was an improvement over previous elections. In the two weeks following the elections, our ambassador to Azerbaijan met twice with President-elect Ilham Aliev, and on both occasions he raised the issue of the post election arrests of opposition party officials and journalists. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Rammell) expressed our concern about the post-electoral developments in a press release of 23 October. A copy of the press release is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk/policy/news/press-releases. Many of those detained have since been released. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep in close touch with our EU and OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) partners.

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the recent elections in Azerbaijan can be deemed to have been free and fair; and if he will make a statement. [136445]

Mr. MacShane: We acknowledge progress over previous elections in Azerbaijan, but regret that some shortcomings were observed. The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) stated in its preliminary conclusions that voting was generally well administered in most polling stations, but that the overall election process still fell short of international standards in several respects. It is important that Azerbaijan takes steps to build on the progress it has made and to reaffirm its commitments in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and obligations within the Council of Europe to the democratic process. We await the IEOM's final assessment on the conduct of the elections.

Burma

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to persuade the Thai Government to lift its restrictions on cross-border aid to internally displaced people in Burma and on refugees from Burma entering Thailand. [135573]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We believe that the Burmese regime's refusal to grant access to IDP areas is the biggest restriction on aid to internally displaced people in Burma. The Thai authorities have a long record of providing safe haven for those fleeing persecution by the Burmese regime. With our EU colleagues, we regularly engage with the Thai authorities on this issue.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Thailand's roadmap for democracy in Burma. [135574]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK welcomes and is supportive of Thai efforts to encourage the Burmese military regime to enter into substantive genuine

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dialogue with democratic and ethnic minority leaders in Burma leading to national reconciliation. We believe that Thailand's proposal forms a good basis on which to build from.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise the issue of the Burmese Government's atrocities against the Karen, Karenni and Shan people at the UN Security Council. [135575]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government are encouraging all the appropriate bodies of the UN to tackle the issue of helping bring about national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy in Burma. Should Burma feature on the UN Security Council agenda, the Government would ensure that the plight of Burma's ethnic groups was taken fully into account.

We regularly raise Burma, including the plight of Burma's ethnic groups, bilaterally with our Security Council partners, but there is currently no agreement that Burma should be discussed by the Security Council.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account the Government takes of the Burmese Army's atrocities against the (a) Karen, (b) Karenni and (c) Shan people in their decision-making; and what sanctions regime against Burma the Government will adopt. [135576]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Together with the international community, we recognise that the resolution of the ethnic nationality issue is an essential ingredient in any possible solution to Burma's problems. The disproportionate violation of human rights suffered by ethnic groups has been highlighted by successive UN resolutions and were included in the European Union Council Conclusions on Burma when the EU decided to strengthen the Common Position in April 2003. We are currently discussing with EU colleagues what additional measures we may take to encourage national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy in Burma.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the Government is taking to raise concerns with the Burmese regime regarding the Burmese military's deployment of land mines in (a) Karen, (b) Karenni and (c) Shan civilian areas; and if he will make a statement. [135791]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Continued fighting between the Burmese Army and armed ethnic groups, which includes the use of land mines by both sides, is the cause of on-going suffering among the ordinary people in these areas. Ethnic groups, including the Karen, Karenni, and Shan, suffer disproportionately.

The UK co-sponsors resolutions in the UN General assembly (UNGA) and UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) condemning the military regime's actions against the ethnic groups.

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