§ Mr. Rhodes Jamesasked the Lord Privy Seal whether the use to be made of the money and food aid promised by the Government for humanitarian relief to the people of Kampuchea will take into account both the continuing difficulties of arranging distribution of overseas aid to the needy people in that country, and the recent growth in the number of Kampuchean refugees in Thailand.
§ Mr. Neil MartenYes. I returned, from my recent visit to Bangkok and the refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border most concerned about these problems as well as being greatly impressed by the good work of the various aid agencies concerned.
I have accepted a request from the Disasters Emergency Committee that its 699W constituent societies may use our grant of about £480,000 for relief operations along the Thai border as well as in Cambodia itself.
5,000 tonnes of rice has now been bought on our behalf by the world food programme (WFP). That is double the quantity announced earlier. Of this WFP has already sent 2,300 tonnes to Kompong Som or Phnom Penh and will now send the other 2,700 tonnes, at my request, for distribution to refugees in the Thai-Cambodian border areas.
On our contribution of nearly £2 million in response to the joint UNICEF-ICRC appeal, I am telling the organisers that, while they naturally remain free to use the United Kingdom contribution at their discretion, as part of their total resources from all quarters, for relief both inside and outside Cambodia, the Government are particularly pleasedthat they now intend to give increasing attention to the needs of the refugees in Thailand.
The £17 million worth of aid from the European Community agreed by the Council of Ministers in October, to which the United Kingdom contributes about 20 per cent. of the cost, will be split about 50–50 between refugees in Thailand and on the Thai-Cambodian border on the one hand and the rest of Cambodia on the other. The European Commission is in regular contact with the relief organisations to ensure that the Community's aid is sent to those areas where the need is greatest and where it can be distributed with greatest confidence. The United Kingdom has played a leading role in ensuring that a suitable proportion is used for refugees in Thailand.
All this action is additional to the aid being given to the refugees in Thailand through our normal contributions to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to the money, now about £90,000, which we are paying in this financial year to the British voluntary organisations towards the cost of their work in the refugee camps in Thailand.