§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development when funds provided by his Department for landmine clearance in Afghanistan in 2003 were made available to de-mining teams there; what role the UN is playing in adminstering these funds; and when de-mining personnel in Afghanistan funded by his Department were first paid for this work in 2003. [135845]
§ Hilary BennIn 2003 The Department For International Development has provided £2.3 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UN MAS) for mine and unexploded ordnance clearance in Afghanistan. This has provided additional support to the on-going activities of UNMAS in Afghanistan allowing an increase in the number of deployed mine clearance teams from 94 to 134 and an increase in the number of mine action personnel to over 8,000. DFID does not directly fund humanitarian demining personnel in Afghanistan.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on attacks on de-mining teams in Afghanistan. [135846]
§ Hilary BennAttacks on demining teams took place in March and April this year on the Kabul to Kandahar road. Since June 2003 the Ministry of Interior has provided four hundred guards to protect teams working on mine clearance and the reconstruction of the road between Kabul and Kandahar. As a result the number of attacks have decreased.