§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of providing cross-border humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people in Burma. [98267]
§ Clare ShortWe monitor the humanitarian situation in Burma and Thailand including the situation for the 140,000 refugees living in camps, an estimated 1 million irregular migrants living on or near the border and the vulnerable populations living in border areas in Burma itself. Getting relief to internally displaced people living on the Burmese side of the border is difficult and dangerous. We provide humanitarian assistance on both sides of the border through carefully selected agencies eg UNHCR and ICRC in Thailand and Burma. The ICRC is the only organisation with a permanent international presence on both sides of the border. We also support WHO's border health programme in Thailand. In addition, we support food relief assistance for refugee camps through the Burmese Border Consortium (BBC). In the current financial year 2002–03 DFID's assistance in these areas will amount to around £3 million.