Afghanistan (Hansard, 28 April 2003)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)
My Lords, schools have reopened and approximately 4 million children have returned. Around 2 million refugees have returned home and 9 million children have been vaccinated against measles. Major efforts are under way to improve security outside Kabul in order to facilitate further development.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer. As the humanitarian relief programme is now moving on to reconstruction aid, does she agree that security and stability are paramount for any progress? With that firmly in mind, what is the Government's position on the continuing funding of the warlords by the United States, which is causing instability and is of great concern to the Afghan transitional administration? What is the Government's position towards the ISI, the Pakistan intelligence service, which is still supporting the Taliban, thus causing still further instability in the area?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I entirely agree that security and stability are paramount. It is only through 445 security and by extending the role of the transitional government to the whole of Afghanistan that we shall achieve further movement. That is why the establishment of provincial reconstruction teams, formerly known as joint regional teams, which will be civilian and military, will help to extend the transitional administration's authority to the regions.
The noble Baroness asked me specifically about warlords. The situation in the south is especially unstable because warlords continue. We must deal with that as a matter of urgency.

§ Baroness Northover
My Lords, will the Minister comment on the concern expressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, that the situation in Iraq was distracting attention from Afghanistan? In the light of the fact that there is no security outside Kabul, will she further comment on the lessons that can be drawn from the case of Afghanistan about the time and effort required by the international community to reconstruct countries after conflict?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, on the last point made by the noble Baroness, the time and effort required for reconstruction will vary from country to country. We have said several times in this House that reconstruction takes a long time. In fact, with respect to Iraq, I have tried very hard not to put a time-scale on it, because it is difficult to know.
On her specific question about whether attention is being taken away from Afghanistan, at the development forum meeting last month, donors reconfirmed their commitment to Afghanistan. We think that the amount pledged in Japan underestimates what is required, but there is also the issue of the capacity of the Afghan authorities, so we must get the balance right. At present, we believe that the funds going in are sufficient for current capacity, but we must continue to build institutions in Afghanistan so that they can increasingly take on that role.

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords, am I right in thinking that after the fall of the Taliban, the Government took upon themselves the task of limiting the production of opium poppies, which have previously been such a source of the heroin that has come to this country? Nevertheless, production of that poppy has soared alarmingly. Can the noble Baroness give us the latest figures and tell us the what the Government are doing about the problem?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right. There are a number of lead nations in areas relating to security sector reform and we are the lead nation with respect to counter-narcotics. Last year, I think the figure is that there was a fall of 25 per cent in poppy cultivation. I shall of course write to the noble Lord if that figure turns out to be inaccurate.

§ Lord Hannay of Chiswick
My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree that the problem in the south of the 446 country, to which she alluded, is not one that is susceptible to a purely military solution; that the real problem is that the Pashtun tribes in the south of the country have not been given a full stake in the new Afghan Government and consider themselves to be out of balance with the Northern Alliance in that government; and that something serious must to be done about that if the southern parts of Afghanistan are not to remain a continuing cause of instability?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right. The Pashtuns feel that they have been left out of the wider political settlement. That needs to be addressed and is being considered in the context of the work being undertaken by the transitional administration, but also of the work that we are undertaking, with others, to seek security in the south of the country to enable political developments to flow.

§ Baroness Williams of Crosby
My Lords, the noble Baroness said frankly that there was still a serious problem about security in Afghanistan. I understand that the International Security Assistance Force is still limited to Kabul itself. Are there any plans among the donor nations or the coalition that fought against Afghanistan to extend policing beyond Kabul? Most Afghan representatives that one meets—especially those who visit this country— repeat over and over that it is crucial to get order and law back into the rest of Afghanistan if the country is to have a serious chance of reconstruction.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, of course security is very important. The method being used is the provincial reconstruction teams, which are joint civil/military teams, to deploy outside Kabul. Their primary function will be to extend the authority of the transitional administration to the regions. So far, three have been established under the United States. Other countries are considering whether they can lead PRTs. As I understand it, the US would like to extend the number that it leads. That is a way to ensure security in other parts of the country.

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords—

§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn)
My Lords, I am afraid that we are over time.