§ 5. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)What assessment her Department has made of the aid which will be required (a) for Serbia following the cessation of military action and (b) for Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. [82951]
§ The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short)We are working with the European Commission, member states, the International Monetary Fund, the World bank and regional banks to determine the development needs of the region after the conflict. It is too soon to assess the situation of Serbia and our likely involvement with that country. We continue to support the economic reform efforts in Romania and Bulgaria and take account of the effects of the Kosovo crisis. Hungary has not been significantly affected by the conflict.
§ Mr. DalyellWho is going to pay for cleaning up and clearing up the Danube?
§ Clare ShortThe organisations that I listed. This morning, I met the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, who said that this was a war about decent human standards. It is a tragedy, of course, but it gives the region a real chance to go forward without ethnic hatred and on the basis of decent human standards. We must ensure that good comes out of bad and that those values prevail after the conflict is over.
§ Mr. Bowen Wells (Hertford and Stortford)The Secretary of State relies on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide the bulk of the organisation, management and co-ordination of efforts in Macedonia and Albania to assist refugees, as she presumably will in Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary. When will she personally take on the UNHCR to make it an effective body, instead of leaving the refugees to the tender mercies of the winter weather and the likelihood of cholera and other diseases spreading in the camps, and to make the camps suitable for reasonable human existence?
§ Clare ShortIt was not me who decided to rely on the UNHCR to be the lead agency dealing with the refugees; 304 it was a matter for our international system. That is how the duties were allocated by the UN. We must all work through the UNHCR. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, there has been much criticism, but it is best to hold back such criticism until later on, and to do all that is in our power to make the arrangements more efficient. That is why we engaged NATO to build camps at an early stage and why non-governmental organisations have been helping the UNHCR to improve the running of the camps. Plans will also have to be made for the return of the refugees to Kosovo and we are trying to ensure that we strengthen the UNHCR' s capacity to carry out that job. I understand the frustration behind the hon. Gentleman's point, but it is not useful to criticise the UNHCR at present. We must make up for the deficiencies and do a good job on behalf of the refugees.
§ Mr. Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne and Sheppey)I understand that a plethora of European and world agencies are considering the future and how we should tackle it. Presumably, however, there will be a holding committee that will act as a decision maker. Will my right hon. Friend advise us whether that will be the case? Will such a committee include Albania and Macedonia in its considerations?
§ Clare ShortIt would be impossible to handle the refugee crisis or to plan for the future without making Albania or Macedonia a key part of the process. There are 400,000 refugees in Albania and about 200,000 in Macedonia. At the meeting that took place at the margins of the World bank and the International Monetary Fund spring meetings, the international community agreed that the EU—assisted by the bank and the fund, which bring to bear a great deal of analytical capacity—will prepare for the economic reconstruction of the region. The refugee effort must be led by the UNHCR, supported by the rest of us. NATO has to plan militarily for the return of the refugees and we must all get behind a UN effort for the immediate return of refugees and for the protection of those who have been displaced internally. We must then bring in the bank and the fund in relation to the reconstruction of Kosovo. That work is going on.
§ Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)Does the Secretary of State agree that, at this time, it is necessary to protect the budget of her Department, so that she can fulfil the aims of the White Paper and help the very poorest people of the world? Will she therefore confirm that any further financial aid to the Balkans in the short, medium or long term will come from Treasury contingency reserves and not the budgets of the Department for International Development?
§ Clare ShortThe hon. Lady's point is well made. [HON. MEMBERS: "Aha."] Well, it would be profoundly wrong for the poorest people in the world to pay for the refugees of Kosovo. I agree with the hon. Lady on that point. As she is aware, the first £10 million that we found was money that we had allocated to the region and to humanitarian catastrophes; the second £10 million came from the contingency reserves; and the further £20 million, announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, came from the Treasury's contingency reserves—not my contingency reserves. Furthermore, 305 I shall be meeting my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary this afternoon; I might draw the hon. Lady's words to his attention.
§ Mr. Gary Streeter (South-West Devon)As the Secretary of State well knows, in four months' time the severe Serbian winter will fall. Vulnerable people living in tents will die. Will she assure the House that plans are already in place to provide adequate shelter to get the Kosovar Albanians through the winter?
§ Clare ShortThat is a strange point. As I said, I saw the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria this morning; she told me that the Bulgarians have a great deal of contact with people in Serbia, who know that it is inevitable that NATO will win—the question is how fast. Yet the hon. Gentleman says, "will die." We hope that we shall be returning refugees to Kosovo; that is likely to happen by winter time. Of course contingency plans are being made.
§ Mr. StreeterI cannot say that I am wholly reassured by that reply. Of course, we want to win the conflict and of course we want the Kosovar Albanians to go home. However, the Secretary of State will understand that time is running out and that, whether the refugees are in Macedonia and Albania or return to their former homes in Kosovo, adequate shelter will be required. Will she assure the House that, although we were caught napping when air strikes began, we shall not be caught napping again and that adequate plans will be put in place and implemented?
§ Clare ShortThe hon. Gentleman and others on the Opposition Front Bench claim to support the action but constantly try to undermine it—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."1 I am sorry, but that is my view: I am shocked by the behaviour of the British Conservative party. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that plans for the winter are being made.