Disaster Relief Unit (Hansard, 10 February 1992)

§ 40. Mr. Harry Barnes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present complement of the disaster relief unit in his Department.

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
The current complement of the emergency aid department is 12½.

§ Mr. Barnes
During the initial crisis when the Kurds fled into the mountains, followed by the crisis in the western Sahara and Bangladesh, the numbers in the disaster relief unit were slowly increased, following questions that were asked by my hon. Friends on the Opposition Front Bench, from four to six, then to nine and then to 12. The figure now seems to be 12½ persons, according to the Minister's answer. That unit was sorely pressed. It worked beyond the call of duty with inadequate resources and lack of personnel. Has anything been learnt from those disasters so that the unit can be given the resources, personnel and status that it requires?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
That organisation is now called the emergency aid department and comprises the disaster and refugee unit. The figures are broadly as the hon. Gentleman suggested. Since last year they have been maintained at the level of 12, or 12½. It is important, as every non-governmental organisation would testify, that administration of aid is kept to the minimum. What is important is not a heavyweight bureaucracy at home but the amount of money that is put into the aid itself.

Mr. Robert G. Hughes
Will my hon. Friend confirm that the amount of money available for disaster relief has been doubled and that, unlike some other countries, we are able to get relief on to the ground very quickly indeed, because the bureaucratic delays have just been swept away?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
Yes. For example, the Overseas Development Administration's work in northern Iraq was widely praised by the international community. We have committed £139 million of humanitarian aid this financial year, against the original provision of £75 million.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
On the question of disaster relief for the Kurds, what action are the Government taking to break the economic embargo that has been imposed by Saddam Hussein on the Kurdish communities of northern Iraq? To what extent are the British Government involved in the initiatives being taken by the American Government, which were reported extensively in the American and the British media last weekend?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
Security Council resolution 688 demanded that Iraq should end its repression against the civilian population of Iraq. We have warned the Iraqi Government that violation of the resolution would have serious consequences. It is not appropriate, however, for me to comment on intelligence matters, but we should certainly shed no tears if Saddam fell.