§ 41. Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what humanitarian and diplomatic efforts are being made to bring peace to Sierra Leone. [13020]
§ Mr. BaldryWe have given our strong support to the good offices of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Secretary-General. We have also allocated more than £0.5 million to the international humanitarian relief effort this financial year.
§ Mr. WorthingtonJust before the tragedies in Rwanda and Burundi, the Foreign Office said that it was not getting too involved with those areas because they were not within Britain's traditional sphere of influence. There is no doubt that Sierra Leone is within Britain's traditional sphere of influence as it is a former British colony. Does the Minister accept responsibility for giving a lead at the United Nations Security Council to ensure that the already deteriorating position, with thousands upon thousands of refugees, does not get worse? Does he accept the responsibility for giving a lead at the UN Security Council.
§ Mr. BaldryIt may be of interest to the House to know that last Friday we were able to speak by radio to all the British hostages in Sierra Leone and to confirm that they are alive and well. That is the first confirmed proof that all our hostages are alive and is an encouraging sign. We hope to secure their release soon. There is no need for exhortation in the UN Security Council because the UN Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Secretary-General are both actively engaged in seeking to facilitate progress in Sierra Leone towards peace negotiations. Both the UN Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Secretary-General have our full support in those initiatives. We are working to bring greater attention to the conflict in Sierra Leone, which we want 18 to see peacefully resolved as quickly as possible. We want the safe release of United Kingdom and other hostages as speedily as possible.
§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldIs not the particular tragedy of Africa that far more damage is done by civil war and internecine strife than occurs as a result of natural phenomena?
§ Mr. BaldryMy hon. Friend makes a good point. That conflict alone has caused the displacement of more than half a million people and the deaths of 20,000 people. Last Friday the director of Oxfam said:
Africans are now more likely to die as a result of internecine wars than at any other time in their long history. These complex emergencies are the result of violent conflicts not natural disasters.That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is correct to promote in the UN more peacekeeping initiatives in Africa to try to ensure that there are mechanisms to enable African countries to have the capacity to deploy peacekeeping forces quickly and effectively.