NIGERIA (Hansard, 8 July 1968)

§ The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. George Thomson)
Discussions are at present going on in Nigeria between the Federal authorities and the International Red Cross. Lord Hunt is in touch with both. It is already clear from these discussions that all relief operations can best be channelled through the International Red Cross.
These discussions are, as I am sure the House will appreciate, extremely delicate, and I do not want to say anything today which can be an obstacle to their success. Lord Hunt arrived in Lagos on Saturday morning and has already made certain preliminary recommendations, which will enable us to save valuable time.
I can assure the House that this whole subject is being dealt with as a matter of the utmost urgency.

§ Mr. Braine
While we are grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that statement, does he agree with two assertions: first, that there is starvation now in Biafra, people are dying there, and that the situation cannot really wait for the Hunt Commission to report, or for a land corridor to be established; and, secondly, that food is already stockpiled in Fernando Po and in Federal Nigeria? If so, can he tell the House, while we appreciate his difficulties, what are the obstacles to sending immediate relief?
If it be that Colonel Ojukwu will not accept food from Federal Nigeria, because he thinks it is poisoned, and Federal authorities will not allow direct flights into Biafra because they think that arms may be smuggled in, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether any thought has been given to both sides providing observers, travelling under safe conduct with every mercy mission, to ensure that only food is carried, that it is not poisoned and is being distributed properly?
40 Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that if there is a shortage of suitable aircraft he will have the fullest support from both sides of the House, and from the whole nation, in offering the Federal Government the use of R.A.F. aircraft for an emergency airlift?

§ Mr. Thomson
I accept both the hon. Gentleman's preliminary assertions, with this qualification about his statement that there is starvation in Biafra: there is starvation on both sides of what is at present a line where very little fighting is, fortunately, taking place. I have just had a direct report this morning to say that most of the relief organisations are agreed that the situation around Ikot Ekpene, which is on the Federal side of the line, is now desperate and as bad, if not worse than, anything in rebel-occupied territory. It is important for the House to be aware that human need is not simply in the Ibo-held territories, but also on the other side of the fighting line.
The question of observers facilitating the relief operation is among many things being actively studied and one of the reasons why I do not feel in a position to give the House too much information today.
To answer the hon. Gentleman's question about the possible use of the R.A.F., I assure the House that I have been continuously in touch with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. I have already said that, in principle, the R.A.F. could take part and could engage in various forms of operation, so long as they took place with the agreement of the Federal Government, on the one side—with their agreement to enter their air space, a right which every sovereign State has and which should not be taken lightly—and equally so long as there were absolute guarantees from the Biafrans that they would not be fired upon.

§ Mr. Henig
Is my right hon. Friend aware that as a result of many stories which have appeared in the Press and elsewhere over the weekend there is widespread concern that the Government are being much too dilatory in dealing with this serious position? Is he aware of the widespread feeling of revulsion at the fact that while this desperate situation 41 is going on, with Colonel Gowon threatening to shoot down planes carrying food to the starving people, Her Majesty's Government are continuing to supply arms to this area?

§ Mr. Thomson
To answer the last part of my hon. Friend's question, I cannot think of anything that Her Majesty's Government could do which would be more disastrous, in terms of the anxieties of both sides of the House to see progress mace on relief, than to choose this moment unilaterally to cease the supply of arms. I could not accept that Her Majesty's Government are being in any way dilatory. We have been working on this throughout the weekend, and if there has not been as much progress as all of us would like to see I cannot accept for a moment that this is in any way the fault of Her Majesty's Government.

§ Mr. Winnick
Is my right hon. Friend aware that an ever-increasing number of British people are now horrified at the numbers of people who are dying daily in Biafra from starvation? Is he also aware of the large number of British people outside the House, and hon. Members on both sides, who cannot understand the slowness with which Her Majesty's Government are considering an emergency airlift to Biafra? In view of the great anxiety that exists about the continuous loss of life in Biafra, would my right hon. Friend agree to make a further statement, either tomorrow or Wednesday, about an emergency airlift?

§ Mr. Thomson
I hope that my hon. Friend will accept that nobody on these benches is more anxious than I am to try to see relief given to those who are suffering. I remind my hon. Friend that this suffering is taking place not only in Biafra, but equally in those areas which are now held by the Federal Government. We have been doing everything that can possibly be done to bring about practical progress towards relief.
I think that the right thing at this stage is for us to allow Lord Hunt, in whom we all have the greatest trust, to go ahead with the delicate discussions with the Federal Government.

§ Mr. Tilney
Cannot pressure be brought to bear on Colonel Ojukwu and the Ibo leaders to allow food in by land 42 and have a Commonwealth force there to see that it is properly administered?

§ Mr. Thomson
I remain firmly of the opinion that the scale of the suffering requires a long-term land lift and that the suffering cannot be adequately met in any other way. However, this does not diminish the need for an emergency interim airlift. We are doing all we can, both directly and indirectly, to persuade Colonel Ojukwu to reconsider the unfortunate position which he has taken in this matter. In particular, we are asking him to reconsider his refusal to allow members of Lord Hunt's mission to go into Ibo held territory to see for themselves what the position there is and to report to us so that we can give the maximum help.

§ Mr. C. Pannell
Is my right hon. Friend aware that those of us who have any links with Nigeria do not blame Her Majesty's Government at all for procrastinating? Would he agree that there should be a realisation in the House that this is a civil war and that it would create no advantage to anybody if we attempted to come down on one side or the other or evaluate something over which we have no understanding? Would he agree that the only thing that really matters is to proceed in the shortest possible time to stop the killing and dying?

§ Mr. Thomson
I am much obliged to my right hon. Friend and I commend his initial wise words to the House. At present, there is virtually a cease-fire operating on the borders of the Ibo territories. The loss of life is taking place mainly through starvation, and not through military activity. This means that the utmost priority must be given to getting the relief operations working. The prime responsibility in this respect rests at present with Colonel Ojukwu.

§ Sir Alec Douglas-Home
I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman's assurance that he would consider using Transport Command if that should prove necessary to help with an emergency airlift. Is it not true that the best chance now of geting both sides to agree is to allow Lord Hunt to make a report in the next few days, and for the right hon. Gentleman to make another report to the House shortly?

§ Mr. Thomson
Yes, Sir. I am much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman for those comments.

§ Mr. Raphael Tuck
If we are trying to stop the fighting in Nigeria, why would it be disastrous—the word used by my right hon. Friend—to stop sending arms to the Nigerian Government?

§ Mr. Thomson
If the reason is not clear to my hon. Friend, then I think that it would be difficult for me to go into a longer explanation here. I would have thought that when Lord Hunt is engaged in delicate negotiations in Lagos this was absolutely the wrong time to raise that particular question.

§ Mr. Hugh Fraser
Would the right hon. Gentleman consider making the International Red Cross the chosen instrument for these negotiations and allowing it to have the use of aircraft, and so on? In view of the difficulties facing our High Commission, on both sides, would not the Red Cross be the best instrument to use in this situation?
Would the right hon. Gentleman also consider making an approach, on humanitarian grounds, to the Emperor of Ethiopia and President Tubman, who have great influence with the Organisation of African Unity?

§ Mr. Thomson
The Organisation of African Unity has for some time been seized of the problem of making its own contribution to peace in Nigeria, and I do not think that I should comment further on that matter at this point.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister emphasised—in his answer given over the weekend to Oxfam's anxieties—our belief that the International Red Cross is the best instrument for co-ordinating this operation. Indeed, we have been supported in this view by a message from Lord Hunt this morning, in which he says how important it is for the success of his mission; and that private individuals and organisations in this country who wish to do so, should make offers of help through the International Red Cross.
The International Red Cross has been accepted by the Federal Government as the most effective co-ordinating organisation and I am sure that, if this were done, 44 it would greatly help to create the sort of atmosphere which would allow the relief work to go forward.