HC Deb 28 November 1972 vol 847 cc123-5W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Uganda Asians are still in camps set up by Her Majesty's Government.

Mr. Lane

On the morning of 24th November, there were 11,189 people in the Uganda Resettlement Board's centres.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offers of accommodation for Uganda Asians have been made to the Resettlement Board by private persons; and how many have been taken up to date.

Mr. Lane

The board has received over 2,000 offers of accommodation in private households, many of them for short periods only. Over 1,350 refugees have so far been resettled by the board in accommodation so offered.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offers of employment for Uganda Asians have been made to the Resettlement Board by private individuals, by private firms and by publicly-owned industries, respectively; and how many have been taken up.

Mr. Lane

The board has been notified of some 1,900 vacancies for men and 1,600 for women by just over 1,300 employers. Separate figures for classes of employer are not available. Some 1,400 refugees from the resettlement camps have so far been found jobs, including those notified to the Department of Employment as well as to the board.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children of nursery, infant, junior and secondary school age are in camps set up for Uganda Asians; and what provisions have been made for their education at every level and in their appropriate age group.

Mr. Lane

The Uganda Resettlement Board is compiling a record of people in the resttlement centres that will include particulars of age. It is at present estimated that there are about 400 children in the centres aged between 3 and 5, about 1,400 aged between 5 and 10, and about 1,700 aged between 11 and 16. Local education authorities are providing education for all groups of children of school age either at the centres or in schools nearby. Voluntary bodies and the residents in the centres are arranging play groups for pre-school-age children.