Kurdish Refugees (Hansard, 27 June 1991)

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (The Earl of Caithness)
My Lords, good progress has been made. Latest figures suggest that about half of the original 1,200,000 Iraqi refugees who fled to Iran have now returned to Iraq.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for his encouraging reply. Can he explain why no safe haven was provided for the Kurdish refugees who went to Iran and whether there are any plans to remedy that state of affairs?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, as the House will be aware, considerable progress has been made on the humanitarian side for all the Kurds. UN security guards are looking after the whole of the northern area, including the Kurds who went into Turkey or up to the Turkish border, as well as those who went into Iran. The situation is being monitored by the UN security guards. The UN Secretary-General will take account of that in future policy.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, does the noble Earl agree that there is still considerable uncertainty about the safety of the Kurds in Iraq itself? Is there any truth in the reports that we have read that a rapid deployment force under the aegis of the United Nations is to be created on the Turkish border with Iraq? If that is the case, I am sure that the whole House would welcome it. Can the Minister say whether there is any prospect of the 1 million Kurds now in Iran returning to their own country?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, on the noble Lord's second point, we seek to encourage the return of all the Kurds to their homes. That is the whole purpose of the humanitarian exercise put forward by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, now followed up by the United Nations.
With regard to security in the area, there are four points: first, the effective UN presence on the ground; secondly, the clear warnings to Iraq that any renewed repression will be met with the severest response; thirdly, a continuing deterrent military presence in the region to back up those warnings; and fourthly, the maintenance of sanctions. We are considering all four points.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, as I asked before, is there any truth in the report on BBC radio this morning that it has been agreed that a new rapid deployment force will be established on the Turkish border with Iraq?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, I replied to the previous question of the noble Lord in the terms I did because I understand that consultations are still continuing.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, is there any news of the situation further south where there is no safe haven for the Shi'ite Moslems? Is there any news of the several hundred thousand people who are apparently in the marshes around Basra and who are under threat from Saddam Hussein?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, I understand the noble Lord's interest. It is however a different question to the one on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Mellish
My Lords, how much will it cost to look after the Kurds? Some of us believe that Saddam Hussein should bear that cost. However, I understand there is a central fund. What contribution is Belgium making to that central fund?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, the Security Council resolutions contain provisions for compensation to be paid by Iraq. As regards donations in cash and kind for the displaced people of Iraq that have been made since April 1991, to the best of my knowledge Belgium has not contributed.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the Kurdish people have been greatly encouraged by the announcement made by the British Prime Minister that no British soldier will be withdrawn from Iraq until peace for the Kurdish people is assured? Does the Minister agree that in this emergency situation there is an urgent need to build decent homes and public buildings in the areas where the Kurds will be living to enable them to construct a nation of their own? Will the United Nations support the British Prime Minister's announcement by not withdrawing any UN soldiers while Britain does not withdraw any of its forces?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition when I mentioned the four conditions that we wished to take into consideration. Without the fulfilment of those four conditions, we shall not remove our troops.

§ Lord Kilbracken
My Lords, do the Government recognise that the great majority of the Kurds still in Iran are city dwellers? They come mainly from the Kurdish cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniya where Saddam Hussein keeps increasing his security forces. I understand that he has as many as 58,000 of those forces in Sulaimaniya. Is it not therefore obvious that the Kurds who do not wish to go to the safe haven or to the area controlled by the Kurdistan Front will not return to their cities until Saddam's security forces return to Baghdad?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, the UN security guards are in place precisely to monitor situations such as the one the noble Lord describes. The UN security guards will monitor the security situation and report to the Secretary-General any violations of Security Council Resolution 688.

§ Lord Kennet
My Lords, what is the latest news of the build-up of the UN security guards? What is the target figure that it is hoped they will reach? How many security guards are now in place?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, I do not know the exact figure at the present time, but in the near future the UN will have about 500 security guards in place.

§ Baroness Ewart-Biggs
My Lords, there has been worrying news as regards the condition of Kurdish child refugees. Has the Minister any information about the welfare of those children and whether the organisations who seek to support them are receiving sufficient funds?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, as a House we should all compliment the non-governmental organisations on the work they are doing with families and children. I am happy to report that Britain is the largest single donor to the Gulf appeal of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, on the Iraqi side of the frontier will the Government do something to support and back the efforts of the Swiss Red Cross which I understand has a distribution point at a place named Shaqlawa?

The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, as I said, we are the largest contributor to the appeal of the ICRC. We are the second largest donor in cash and kind to displayed people in Iraq after America. We are in front of Japan, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Australia and France. That is a record to be proud of.