HC Deb 11 February 2004 vol 417 cc1467-8W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the clearing of landmines in Afghanistan in each of the last two years; and what the contribution of the United Kingdom has been. [148115]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

According to figures produced by Landmine Monitor and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), clearance of landmines and associated activities in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, the last years for which reports are available, have been as follows:

2001 2002
Minefield clearance (sq km) 15.6 19.0
Battle area clearance (sq km) 81.2 92.6
Minefield survey (sq km) 14.7 25.2
Battle area survey (sq km) 80.8 92.5
Mine awareness training (people) 730,000 2,448,151

DFID has provided the following sums for mine action in Afghanistan: £3 million in 2001–02 and £1.8 million in 2002–03.

We are currently considering further support for UNMAS in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate he has made of the number of Afghan refugees in(a) Pakistan and (b) Iran. [149972]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

The most recent estimate by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UN HCR), of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is 1.6 million individuals. The number, however, is difficult to assess accurately as there has not been a registration since 1995. In addition, there are significant numbers of Afghans in Pakistan who are not refugees. In Iran UNHCR's estimate is 1.9 million. Here most of the Afghan refugees are registered, although there may be a significant margin of error.