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Staff Identity Passes

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost of producing a staff identity pass was in the Department on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many staff identity passes have been reported lost or stolen in each year since 1997. [215089]

Mr. Rammell: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff identity passes are authorised using a computer-based system which was purchased and installed in 2002. The computer is linked to three FCO sites, the FCO Main Building, Old Admiralty Building and Hanslope Park. The identity pass comprises a digital photograph and a unique computer chip. There are currently nearly 12,000 active identity pass holders. 110 identity passes are issued weekly.

The full cost of producing and issuing an FCO staff identity pass, including staff costs, is £3.36 each.

Breakdown of FCO identity passes lost or stolen since 1997 based on our existing records is as follows:

	Stolen	Lost	Total
1997	0	l	1
1998	2	23	25
1999	8	48	56
2000	7	46	53
2001	16	58	74
2002	10	37	47
2003	13	24	37
2004	10	41	51
2005 (As at 4 February 2005)	1	12	13

 
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Swaziland

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the min Minister of Swaziland on his recent visit to the UK. [216083]

Mr. Mullin: During the min Minister of Swaziland's visit to the UK in early February my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I discussed with him current political developments in Swaziland including constitutional developments and the rule of law; economic developments including the proposed changes to the EU sugar regime; the HIV/Aids pandemic; and the future of British representation in Swaziland.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding the proposed closure of the high commission in Swaziland; and if he will make a statement. [216084]

Mr. Mullin: The min Minister of Swaziland raised the planned closure of the high commission in Mbabane with my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and with me during his visit to the UK in early February. There has also been some parliamentary and public interest.

Vietnam

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Vietnam regarding (a) the pre-Christmas mass detention of Montagnard Christians in the Central Highlands and (b) human rights abuses of Montagnards in Vietnam's Central Highlands; and if he will make a statement. [209568]

Mr. Alexander: We remain concerned about the situation of the Montagnards in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.

Our ambassador in Hanoi visited the Central Highlands on 17–19 January as part of an EU Troika mission to assess the situation on the ground. We are aware of reports of the arrest of Christians over the Christmas period but have not been able to corroborate these reports.

We raise human rights concerns regularly with the Vietnamese Government, both bilaterally and with our EU partners. These include the problems faced by the Montagnards in the Central Highlands, particularly with regard to land and religious freedom.

With our other EU partners, we participate in a regular human rights dialogue with Vietnam. The most recent meeting, attended by our ambassador in Hanoi, took place on 17 December. We raised the situation of the Montagnards at this meeting.

We will continue to raise our concerns and press the Vietnamese Government to adhere to its international human rights obligations at every suitable opportunity.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Cambodian authorities on (a) the deportation of Montagnard refugees from
 
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Vietnam's Central Highlands back to Vietnam and (b) reopening its north eastern border with Vietnam; and if he will make a statement. [209569]

Mr. Alexander: The UK Government regularly raises its concerns about ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and refugees from the region with both the Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities. The EU is also active in this area—it has urged the Cambodian Government to comply with its international refugee obligations and to co-operate with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Our embassy in Phnom Penh also remains in close contact with the UNHCR. We will continue to encourage the Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities to engage with the UNHCR on the issue.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Asian Tsunami

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money the Government provided for aid in the first week after the Asian tsunami. [217036]

Hilary Benn: By the 3 January, DFID had allocated £50 million and spent £7.2 million in response to the Indian Ocean Crisis. This comprised £6 million channelled through the World Health Organisation, various non-governmental organisations and a DFID chartered flight carrying relief items, £900,000 in donations in kind, and £250,000 for the International Humanitarian Partnership airlift to establish working environments and communications capability for United Nations staff.

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions his Department has had with UK-based refugee communities from those countries affected by the tsunami concerning the reconstruction efforts; and if he will make a statement. [214997]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: It is important that the longer-term reconstruction of the regions devastated by the tsunami takes into account the views and needs of the communities affected, and in particular of civil society and vulnerable groups. My right hon. Friend the Secretary for International Development visited the region 6–8 January and spoke to affected communities to better understand their needs, as well as aid agencies operating in the region.

We have received many representations about our response to the tsunami including from UK-based refugee communities from some of those countries affected and welcome the views of all interested groups, including those based in the UK.

A co-ordinated international response to the tsunami, led by the Governments affected and organisations such as the UN and the Asian Development Bank, will ensure that the views of the poorest and most vulnerable are taken into account throughout the process of rehabilitation. The Department for International
 
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Development (DFID) will work to ensure a focus on helping the poorest people and those often marginalized because of caste, gender, age, ethnicity or religion.

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he will reply to the letter dated 10 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Oscar Brogdan. [217051]

Hilary Benn: Unfortunately, the Department for International Development has no record of having received this letter. If my right hon. Friend would kindly re-send the letter I will ensure that he receives a prompt reply.

Cote d'Ivoire

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist refugees from Cote d'Ivoire in (a) Liberia, (b) Guinea, (c) Mali, (d) Burkina Faso and (e) Ghana. [216288]

Hilary Benn: In Guinea, DFID has supported the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNICEF to a total of £1 million in 2004 to provide for the care and needs of all refugees residing in camps. We are assessing this support, before deciding on possible additional funding. In Liberia, Ivorian refugees are being assisted by the UNHCR and the World Food Programme. DFID has provided grants totalling £2.1 million to these agencies for their work in Liberia, in 2004. DFID is not providing support to Ivorian refugees in Mali, Burkina Faso or Ghana. DFID understands that the numbers in Mali and Ghana are low. According to UNHCR, 10,000 Burkinabe migrants returned to Burkina Faso, but no Ivorian refugees have been recorded there.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the number of refugees from Cote d'Ivoire that have arrived in (a) Liberia, (b) Guinea, (c) Mali, (d) Burkina Faso and (e) Ghana in each month since September 2003. [216289]

Hilary Benn: Monthly disaggregated data of this nature is not readily available. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency responsible for registering and monitoring formal cross-border refugee flows, the numbers of Ivorian refugees arriving in these countries since September 2003 have been relatively low. Between January 2004 and September 2004, Mali registered 805 Ivorian refugee arrivals, Guinea registered nine, and none were recorded in the other countries. Following the upsurge in violence in Cote d'Ivoire in November 2004, 10,000 Ivorians were registered as newly-arriving refugees in Liberia, although more than half have since returned. The same events prompted up to 10,000 Burkinabe migrants to return to Burkina Faso, but, according to the UNHCR, there was no similar movement of Ivorians.
 
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