§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) of 6 July, Official Report, c. 91, if he will give a breakdown, by country of origin, of the refugees engaged in further and higher education funded under the Government's aid programme in each year since 1979 to the latest available date and to what he attributes the decline in the total figures over the last five years.
203W
Mr. Raison[pursuant to the reply, 13 July 1983, c. 358]: A breakdown by country of origin of refugee students supported under the Government's aid programmes since 1979 is as follows:
1979 1980 1981 1982 Chile 560 402 267 137 Uganda 246 165 89 44 Ethiopia 117 112 114 98 Afghanistan — — — 18 923 679 470 297 The Chile programme was introduced to help those whose studies were interrupted by the 1973 coup or its aftermath. By late 1979 the situation in Chile was no longer such as to justify special treatment. It was therefore decided that no new awards should be made beyond those for which applications were already in the pipeline. Provision continues to be made for existing award holders.
In the case of Uganda the special refugee programme now covers a few residual students. Normal Government-to-Government technical co-operation training was resumed in 1979.
The Ethiopian programme continues although at a slightly lower level.