HL Deb 15 July 1992 vol 539 c23WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many war refugees (from the South Sudan and Somalia) are thought to be in Kenya and Uganda respectively; what relief and development aid is currently reaching them from bilateral and multilateral sources; and what consultations are in hand with the Governments of Kenya and Uganda about the future of these refugees.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)

Figures provided by the UNHCR suggest that there are 190,000 Somalis and 22,500 Sudanese in Kenya and 85,000 Sudanese and 150 Somali urban refugees in Uganda. It is not possible to separate out those who have fled from war and/or civil strife, as opposed to those who may have fled from hunger and poverty or other factors.

As far as Kenya is concerned the UK has provided £1 m in response to the UNHCR appeal earlier this summer, and separately £lm to help Kenyan victims of the drought. The UNHCR appeal was for a total of 34 million dollars. No such appeal has been launched in respect of Uganda. However, the UNHCR have allocated some 1.8 million dollars to assist the Sudanese refugees and are providing basic assistance to the 150 Somalis in Uganda. UNHCR have international and local staff working in both countries and use the services of NGOs as implementing partners. In addition, the ICRC has been active in Kenya, particularly when Kenya faced the mass influx earlier this year. UNICEF has overall responsibility for the water sector in the refugee camps in Kenya.

UNHCR, as the responsible UN body, continues to take the lead on refugee matters and is in regular contact with the governments concerned.