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Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the number of displaced Somalis crossing the border into Kenya to escape fighting; and whether his Department is providing humanitarian assistance. [11815]
Hilary Benn: DFID has not made any independent assessment of the number of displaced Somalis crossing the border into Kenya, however the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 232,333 refugees in Kenya that require humanitarian support, of whom just over 151,000 are Somalis.
We contributed £400,000 last year to support UNHCR's ongoing efforts to promote the voluntary repatriation of 23,000 Somali refugees in exile in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen and elsewhere. We are also currently considering providing further funding to the UNHCR through the 2005 UN Consolidated Appeals Process for Somalia.
In the last two months, an estimated 15,000 Somalis people have crossed the border into Mandera district, Kenya following fighting between two rival clans. There have been some initial relief distributions from the UN and local NGOs. The Kenyan authorities, with local elders are meeting in the next few weeks to try and address the causes of the conflict. The UN Office for the
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Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs is coordinating a response to the situation. DFID's office in Kenya is closely monitoring the situation.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the use of British aid in Sri Lanka following the tsunami. [12934]
Mr. Thomas: Immediately following the tsunami DFID provided some £7 million of direct assistance to Sri Lanka. In addition DFID financed a number of relief activities across the region, at a cost of over £26 million. While it is difficult to attribute precisely Sri Lanka's share of this funding, we would estimate that approximately one third, or £8.7 million, went to the island. The following table provides full details.
To support longer term recovery Britain has agreed to meet 10 per cent. of the Government of Sri Lanka's interest payments to the World Bank, for the next 10 years. This will be worth over £41 million and the Government have agreed that the funds released will be spent on tsunami relief and recovery and on poverty reducing programmes for the poorest communities.
Sri Lanka has received generous support from international organisations and from the public, sufficient to fully finance the recovery and reconstruction needs. However, following my visit to Sri Lanka last month I have agreed that we should offer further assistance to strengthen Government's capacity to implement these recovery programmes effectively and equitably. Discussions are under way in Sri Lanka to identify the best way to tackle this issue and programme DFID support.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the statutory instruments sponsored by his Department since 1997. [10562]
Hilary Benn:
Lists of all statutory instruments (Sis) from 1 January 1998 to 30 June 2005, prepared by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) have today been placed in the Library. These lists, prepared in alphabetical order by department, detail for each year from 1998 the number and title of each statutory instrument sponsored by the department. There are separate lists for General and Local Sis. Sis which have been originated by departments but which were also Orders in Council are only listed under the Privy Council Office (PCO).
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Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the activities of the United Nations Population Fund on rates of abortion and sterilisation in China. [10889]
Mr. Thomas: I refer the Member for Southend West to the reply I gave to him dated 18 July 2005, Official Report, column 1362W.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list countries represented on the Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund. [10556]
Mr. Thomas: The countries represented on the Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund are:
Membership of the Executive Board
(term expires on the last day of the year indicated)
Latin America and Caribbean states:
Western European and other states:
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