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Lord Hunt of Chesterton: My Lords, I think that the Minister meant to say 100 metres.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords, my noble friend is quite correct. I meant 100 metres. I beg the House's pardon. One hundred kilometres would be obscene. One hundred metres is slightly obscene but not very obscene.
 
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As the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, pointed out so eloquently both today and last week in a Question to my noble friend the Leader of the House, people's livelihoods often depend upon where they live. It is clear that many displaced people are struggling to find places to build because they do not have land rights elsewhere. More information is also needed for the people affected. I am glad that my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development is in Sri Lanka this week, and this is one of the issues he will be raising with the Government of Sri Lanka. He is also going to Indonesia to see what is happening on the ground, the effect of DfID spending, where problems lie and how they should be addressed.

I understand the many frustrations expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Eden, on behalf of people working on the ground in Sri Lanka. I cannot comment at the moment on the allegation about the Sri Lankan Government swiping 15 per cent of the budget, but I shall ensure that the allegation is looked into. I shall write to the noble Lord and place a copy of the letter in the Library. The noble Lord asked that representations should be made to the government of Sri Lanka. I am sure that the Parliamentary Under-Secretary will do so this week.

The noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, asked what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to advise governments to help them improve governance. There are various programmes. The Government are working very hard to build administrative capacity with the governments of the countries which were hit by the tsunami as well as governments who are in conflicts or in developing parts of the world.

I turn to the Maldives. Although the death toll was lower in the Maldives than in other affected Asian countries, more than one-third of the population were severely affected and 10 per cent of the islands were totally destroyed. Despite the extensive destruction, the government of the Maldives responded quickly and immediate relief programmes have been implemented. The government of the Maldives have launched, and are making good progress with, a national recovery and reconstruction plan designed to rebuild damaged infrastructure and restore livelihoods.

On tourism, I am glad to say that the government of the Maldives say that the hotel occupancy is increasing, and they are keen to increase that.

I understand the desire of the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, to ensure that adequate money for reconstruction is available in the Maldives. However, it seems that, notwithstanding the devastation wreaked by the tsunami, the Maldives will remain a middle income country. Therefore, further relief will not be possible.

Lord Naseby: My Lords, can I urge that a Minister finds time to go to the Maldives? If he does, he will find that at least one-third of those islands are every bit as poor, if not poorer, than the vast bulk of Sri Lanka,
 
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which I know equally well. Therefore, the categorisation needs to be looked at again, particularly in relation to our EU presidency.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords, I well understand the noble Lord's very good point that somebody on the ground should look at the situation to ensure that the categorisation is still correct. I shall certainly feed through that point.

The noble Lord makes an interesting suggestion in relation to JCBs. I shall also follow up that very practical suggestion.

I turn to monitoring and evaluation. To ensure that UK Government funds are spent effectively in the region, DfID humanitarian advisers are going on a series of monitoring missions to affected countries during June and July to evaluate the support provided with those funds. My noble friend Lord Giddens was right to emphasise the need to ensure that there is no gap between pledged aid and aid which is delivered.

I noted all the points raised by my noble friend Lord Giddens in relation to natural disasters and economic disasters which could result from globalisation. I shall undertake to follow up his points.

My noble friend also stressed the importance of global risks. It is clear that natural disasters have a disproportionate and catastrophic effect on poor people. That is one of the reasons that the Government have been investigating the issue. As my noble friend Lord Hunt of Chesterton pointed out, some lessons have been learnt about natural disasters, but more needs to be done throughout government and current methods need to be improved. I trust that the Government will be able to assist with the training he suggests so that scientists and technicians have all the necessary skills.

In response to the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, £66 million out of the £75 million for humanitarian aid has been programmed through UN agencies, NGOs
 
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and DfID direct action. We are considering disaster risk reduction for the remainder of the money. As I mentioned, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary is visiting the region this week. He will make decisions on future spending when there.

I was very struck by the noble Baroness's point about the aid that was left in containers and not properly dealt with. I am told by my colleagues in the department that the international response to the tsunami was unprecedented, as we all know, and that that presented logistical challenges in particular. Therefore, it was necessary for the relief agencies and the affected governments to prioritise the items that were distributed, and I can only presume that whatever was in the containers was not a priority for the governments. I am sorry about that.

To conclude, the exceptionally generous response following the Asian tsunami has meant that the initial humanitarian relief effort in all the affected countries has been successful. Any potential further consequences of the disaster, such as major outbreaks of disease, have been prevented. We are committed to playing our full part in helping to meet these exceptional needs. But six months is a very short time and the challenges of reconstruction are still enormous.

It is of course absolutely right, as the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, said, that we should continue to monitor the situation. I welcome his suggestion that there should be a follow-up debate in six months' time. I have no doubt that in the mean time noble Lords will continue properly to question the Government on the issue, which has such a profound effect on the people whose lives and livelihoods were shattered by the Asian earthquake and resulting tsunami.

Where I have not responded to questions from noble Lords, I shall do so in writing.

House adjourned at thirteen minutes before six o'clock.

Written Statements

Monday 13 June 2005

 
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Sudan: Darfur

The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The African Union mission in Darfur is doing an important job in trying to provide security for the people of Darfur who have suffered too long from this terrible conflict.

Where the AU troops are deployed, there has been a significant improvement in the security situation. But the impact of 3,000 troops is inevitably limited, which is why we fully support their decision to expand the force to more than 7,700. At the same time, we recognise the essentially political nature of the crisis in Darfur and will be supporting fully the Abuja peace talks process.

The UK has played a leading role in assisting the AU mission and I am announcing today that the UK will increase our contribution to the expansion of the mission to £19 million, from the £6.6 million contribution we announced at the AU donors' conference in Addis Ababa on 26 May. This brings our total contribution to AMIS since its inception to almost £32 million.

We will use this money to purchase up to 500 additional vehicles and further rapid deployment equipment. As part of NATO's efforts to assist AMIS expansion, the UK is also ready—subject to AU requirements and other donors' contributions—to support the airlift, co-ordinated by NATO, of up to three battalions into Darfur. The Defence Secretary has also agreed to provide a mobile air movements team of up to 15 people if required. The UK is also keen to provide the AU with technical expertise, and will be talking to the AU secretariat and others about this.

We are also keen to support the civilian police part of the mission. We will support the EU's efforts to offer the AU a package of support, including training for the AU police and technical experts and advisers. We will also build accommodation for AU civilian police in camps for internally displaced people and villages, so that they can be deployed where they are needed most.

The Foreign Secretary and I also wish to announce the appointment of Mr Alan Goulty as the UK special representative for Darfur. He will support the African Union-led work to achieve a durable political settlement of the Darfur conflict, keeping in regular contact with all the main parties.

Mr Goulty has an unparalleled knowledge of Sudan, deriving from his previous appointments as British Ambassador to Khartoum, director for the Middle East and North Africa in the FCO, and, from 2002 to 2004, as the United Kingdom's special representative for Sudan, where he played a key role in
 
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the successful negotiations of the comprehensive peace agreement, which ended the 21 year civil war in Sudan. He will perform his new role in addition to his current responsibilities as British Ambassador to Tunis.

This appointment marks the UK's continuing commitment to achieving lasting peace throughout Sudan, including in Darfur. This cannot happen without a political settlement in Darfur.

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