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Written Ministerial Statements
Monday 1 March 2004
DEFENCE
Reserve Forces Call-out Order
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): A new call-out order has been made under Section 56 of the Reserve forces Act 1996 so that reservists may continue to be called out to support operations in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The order will take effect from 1 March 2004, the date the previous order expires. There are no plans to call-out reservists compulsorily under this order as it is expected that the small numbers needed will be met through volunteers for service in those countries.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Falkland Islands
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell): I made a statement to this House on airlinks between the Falklands and Argentina, Official Report, 19 January 2004, 51WS. I would like to report on developments since then.
I travelled to Argentina on 16–17 February on a pre-planned bilateral visit. I held talks on a wide range of international, regional and bilateral issues. The question of airlinks featured in my talks with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Dr Rafael Bielsa. The talks were frank and constructive and we made some progress. Some proposals were discussed which we each agreed to look at further. These proposals primarily focused on temporary arrangements for charter flights for 2004. I made it clear that any arrangements would need to be acceptable to the Falkland Islanders.
Regrettably, shortly following my visit, an article appeared in an Argentine newspaper, giving details of my talks and wrongly asserting that a deal on airlinks had been agreed. As I have indicated, this was not the case.
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I spoke subsequently to Falkland Councillors. They concluded that the proposals for temporary arrangements did not meet their concerns. However, they agreed that we should continue to discuss the issue with the Argentine Government with a view to securing a permanent solution to the question of charter flights rather than having further temporary arrangements.
We are now taking this forward with the Argentine Government, with the full agreement of Councillors. I will keep the House informed of progress.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Afghanistan
The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): Afghanistan remains a high priority for the Government. A lot has been achieved during the past two years. Around 3 million refugees have been helped to return to Afghanistan. Improvements have been made in education, with more than 4 million children back at school. Some 37 per cent. of pupils are now girls, up from 5 per cent. in 2001. Some 12 million children have been immunised against polio and 16 million against measles since 2002, saving 30,000 lives. Women are increasingly taking part in politics and the new constitution guarantees women 25 per cent. of seats at the new parliament and equal rights and duties before the law. But there are still challenges ahead.
As part of the UK's continuing commitment to Afghanistan I will be announcing, at the donor conference taking place in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April, an increase in our assistance to at least £500 million over five years. This represents an increase of 150 per cent. on our original commitment for the reconstruction of Afghanistan made in Tokyo in January 2002 to provide £200 million over these five years (the financial years 2002/03–2006/07). So far we have provided £110.5 million of this. This new pledge will include at least £75 million a year for reconstruction, plus assistance for counter-narcotics and conflict prevention.
One of the major challenges Afghanistan faces is security, particularly in the south and east of the country, and the need to tackle the drugs trade. The UK is working to support the Afghan police and helping to build a new Afghan National Army. We are also assisting with the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants. Our new financial commitment will help to address all these issues.