§ Mr. Cyril D. Townsendasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Ugandan Government about the recent exodus of refugees into Rwanda; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. OnslowWe have been in touch with the Ugandan Government. President Obote has indicated in a strongly worded message to district councilors in the area concerned that the actions which precipitated the flight of refugees into Rwanda did not have the approval of his Government. We hope that the Ugandan and Rwandan Governments will now take the necessary joint action to resolve the problem. In addition to the financial assistance mentioned in the reply of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Rifkind) to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Mr. Hooley) on 16 November—[Vol. 32, c.112]—a further grant of £20,000 has been made.
§ Mr. Cyril D. Townsendasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Ugandan Government about the renewed exodus of Ugandan refugees from the West Nile district into Southern Sudan, and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. OnslowWe have been in touch with the Ugandan Government, and with the representative in Uganda of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who has confirmed that refugees are returning to the area around Arua and to the southern part of the district. We have recently contributed £125,000 to his appeal for their resettlement needs. The situation to the north may be less settled, but we understand that the majority of those who have registered as refugees in Southern Sudan this year are people who fled across the border in 1980 and 1981 as well as the first part of 1982 and have since lived by subsistence farming. We contributed £800,000 this year towards refugee relief work in Sudan.
Unemployed Claimants Percentage changes County Registration Claimants November 1982 May 1979-October 1982 October 1982-November 1982 Bedfordshire 23,500 +231.9 -0.1 Berkshire 23,188 +252.0 -0.6 Buckinghamshire 17,182 +239.6 -0.4 East Sussex 26,270 +132.4 +3.5 Essex 59,160 +192.7 +0.2 Greater London 341,086 +190.2 -0.1