HC Deb 08 May 1989 vol 152 cc553-4
32. Ms. Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current level of aid given by Her Majesty's Government to Somalian refugees in Ethiopia.

Mr. Chris Patten

Since the outbreak of the civil conflict in Somalia last year, we have provided assistance totalling some £2.45 million for Somali refugees in Ethiopia. We provided a further £2.73 million in support of programmes run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the benefit both of Sudanese and Somali refugees in Ethiopia.

Ms. Mowlam

I am sure that the Minister is well aware of the level of malnutrition that exists in many refugee camps in Ethiopia. In Hartisheik refugee camp, for example, more than 30 per cent. of children aged under five are defined as malnourished. Will he outline his plans to provide water and food to the camps before malnutrition and disease break out, rather than after?

Mr. Patten

I hope that the hon. Lady will not misunderstand me when I say that I do not think that the immediate problem is lack of resources in the camps in the Ogaden. When I visited those camps a few months ago, they had a considerable number of organisational problems that I took up with Mr. Hocké the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, when I returned to London. Considerable problems still exist there. Many have been brought to our attention by non-governmental organisations to whom I spoke a couple of weeks ago, and I shall be bringing them to Mr. Hocke's attention when he visits London later this month.

Mr. Baldry

Given that there are Somalian refugees in Ethiopia, Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan, and Sudanese refugees elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, is not the root cause of so many difficulties the eternal strife and civil disturbances within those countries? When will the international community as a whole get a grip on the Horn of Africa and start helping those countries resolve some of their internal difficulties? Otherwise, there will be an endless saga of malnutrition and starvation.

Mr. Patten

My hon. Friend is entirely right in saying that the major cause of distress in the Horn of Africa is civil conflict in the countries he mentioned. I fear that our ability to provide humanitarian relief to those in need is greater than our ability to make that humanitarian relief unnecessary in the first place. However, my hon. Friend makes an important point. We make a good deal of effort ourselves—bilaterally, through the Community, and through other channels—to bring about peace in that region.

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