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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Harris) on securing this debate. International attention was focused on the tsunami-hit countries in December and the first two weeks of January as the immediate aftermath became clear and the scale of the tragedy unfolded. Media and political attention inevitably moves on, and he did the House a service by refocusing its attention on the impact of the tsunami in the affected countries. When responding to his specific points, I hope to set out how the Department for International Development in particular and the Government as a whole have continued to focus on the needs of tsunami-affected countries and the people of those countries, who have faced such devastation.
The tragedy was truly terrible, with massive loss of life affecting several countries and with considerable impact on millions of livelihoods. More than 273,000 people lost their lives, including some 220,000 in Indonesia alone, and a further 1.6 million people have been displaced from their homes. As my hon. Friend made clear, we witnessed an unprecedented public response. It seems that the disaster touched hearts in every home in the United Kingdom. In my many meetings with leaders of the countries affected, not least the Sri Lankan Minister whom I met yesterday with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, they have paid tribute to British generosity and the contribution of the British people.
I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Oxfam and other members of the Disasters Emergency Committee. It is appropriate to pay particular tribute to Brendan Gormley, the committee's chief executive, for the excellent work that it has done.
My hon. Friend's debate is timely, not least because the Disasters Emergency Committee announced only yesterday that it has allocated more than £112 million from its tsunami earthquake appeal to the first phase of disaster relief—funding work that it estimates will benefit more than 3 million people.
My hon. Friend referred specifically to the contribution of the private sector and paid tribute to private sector organisations that responded generously to the disaster. I want to single out Scottish Water and Strathmore Water, which donated 40 tonnes of bottled water, which we were able to send to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and other affected countries, as well as First Choice Holidays, which helped to deliver some of that water and brought people back from those countries.
There are many other examples of companies providing free relief supplies, human help and financial donations. However, as my hon. Friend rightly made clear, it is important that other crises and situations around the world receive support, and that funds for other humanitarian needs are not diverted to the tsunami response. Sufficient funds should be available for both relief and reconstruction.
My hon. Friend also made clear his appreciation for the work of Glasgow The Caring City, led by the Rev. Neil Galbraith. I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the work of that organisation and many others throughout Britain that provided direct assistance to people in the tsunami-affected countries.
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The international community also responded generously. Some £3.2 billion of public, private and Government support has been pledged for relief and reconstruction. The Department for International Development also responded swiftly to the disaster. Within four hours of the initial alert, our crisis operations team was fully activated, and the first assessment team was sent to Sri Lanka within 10 hours of the disaster. The following day, the Department sent the first relief plane from the UK, which carried tents and tarpaulins to Sri Lanka. Some £75 million has been committed by the Government for immediate relief, and we have been able to programme more than £65.8 million of that commitment already.
Funds have been allocated to various United Nations agencies, to the Red Cross movement, to non-governmental organisations and to a range of direct actions to support the delivery and distribution of urgently needed relief. In addition, I pay tribute to the European Union's response of some €123 million in humanitarian assistance, of which our share is some €17.9 million.
Relief needs across the region are being adequately met. The affected countries are now stocktaking after what has been a largely successful relief effort. Proof of the success of the relief effort is the absence of any serious outbreak of disease, such as often happens in the wake of a disaster of that magnitude. In spite of the unprecedented scale of the disaster, assistance was provided quickly to the tsunami-affected countries. Appropriate and sufficient quantities of materials and food were provided, water and sanitation needs addressed, and shelter provided. Where logistical concerns arose, solutions were found, and United Kingdom assistance has helped to ensure access to aid for those in need and support for delivery systems.
My hon. Friend specifically asked whether assistance was getting through to the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. While relief assistance is still ongoing, we have now moved into the recovery phase. A significant number of internally displaced persons are now resettled. The UN's deputy emergency relief co-ordinator, Margareta Wahlström, has reported that the relief effort was well managed and that all areas of the country received appropriate levels of assistance, despite the political sensitivities. The UN will work hard to ensure that the areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam continue to receive assistance in the reconstruction phase. Our support for those areas has mainly been channelled through the United Nations to non-governmental organisations whose programmes have delivered assistance to vulnerable populations in all the affected areas. For example, we supported Save the Children, which has offices in three areas of the country and had the logistical strength to ensure that aid could be moved to where it was needed. In addition, we have had contact with the LTTE to discuss co-ordination. We have had direct meetings with LTTE officials, which is allowed under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a DFID and UN team met the head of the LTTE's political wing to get an overview of the impact of the tsunami and how the relief effort was going.
As I said, most affected countries have now moved into the longer-term recovery and rehabilitation phase. We are continuing our support beyond immediate relief and helping affected Governments meet their medium-
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term needs, such as the provision of transitional shelter, and support for livelihood recovery and income generation. One example is the channelling of some £4 million through the UN development programme to work focused on immediate employment, rehabilitation and livelihood recovery in the devastated province of Aceh in Indonesia.
We are also supporting several other UN and NGO recovery programmes in India, including in the Andamans, in Indonesia, in the Maldives, and in Sri Lanka. That support includes cash-for-work programmes, housing repair programmes, restoring community infrastructure, the repair and rehabilitation of water supply systems, vocational training and—importantly—psychosocial counselling.
It is clear that, following the disaster, there needs to be an early warning system for the Indian ocean region. I am pleased that the Association of South East Asian Nations has agreed to set up such a system, with the UN taking the lead on co-ordination. It is important that this system warn against multiple hazards—for example, tropical storms as well as tsunamis—and that the technical accomplishment is backed up by appropriate disaster risk reduction activities in the countries at risk. We are considering how we can play a role in supporting that process.
Our support will not end once media interest has moved on to other issues and initial recovery work is over. The tsunami has had a truly devastating effect, destroying livelihoods, homes and public services. The people of the region will continue to live with the damaging psychological and practical impacts for many years. Clearly, these problems will not be solved overnight.
The Governments of the affected countries, rightly, want to take the lead in the reconstruction of the devastated areas in their own countries. We respect that, and we will work with the international community to support them in that, as they embark on a considerable challenge. We are also working with these Governments to ensure that there is full accountability and transparency about how funds are spent, and to ensure also that help gets to those who need it.
Co-ordination among donors and Governments is important. There is a multitude of international organisations involved in this reconstruction effort, as
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well as dozens of other donor countries. We are working with the international community and affected Governments to help to ensure that there is a well co-ordinated response that genuinely meets the needs of those most affected.
Following the tsunami, we announced that Sri Lanka would be added to the list of countries eligible for the UK's new multilateral debt relief initiative. Under that, we will pay our share—that is about 10 per cent.—of Sri Lanka's debt service costs to the World Bank until 2015. We are encouraging two other donors to join us in offering debt relief to the affected countries. On 10 March, the Paris Club agreed not to expect any debt payment from the countries involved in 2005, and I warmly welcome that. It is through such measures that the Government can add most value to reconstruction. Through such international co-operation we can make a real difference to those most in need in the affected countries.
We expect to contribute more money, over time, to the longer-term reconstruction process. Our response will be guided by the findings of needs assessments of the affected countries that are currently being finalised, and by the level of resources that has already been made available.
We are continuing to work hard with partner Governments and the international community to ensure that the support that we and others are already giving reaches those who are most affected by the disaster. As notified to the House today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, we will provide up to about £65 million for rehabilitation, depending on final needs assessments and the availability of other funding. That is in addition to our support for the immediate relief effort. The money will not come from other emergencies or from existing plans for other countries.
I pay tribute again to my hon. Friend for securing the debate. It has helped the House to refocus on a truly terrible tragedy, allowing us not only to consider the immediate relief effort and how it is going in the affected countries but to begin to consider, too, the longer-term recovery and rehabilitation issues. He has made important points about the role that the private sector can play. I hope that those within the companies that he mentioned who read his contribution to the debate will take note of it.
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