§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Prime Minister if she will raise as a matter of urgency with the Common Market Commission the failure of the Common Market to provide more than 17,000 tonnes of aid to date to Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterThe European Community and its member states have earmarked 160,000 tonnes of grain for Sudan in 1985. The Foreign Affairs Council, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is attending in Brussels today, will discuss the needs of the Sudan.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Prime Minister how many tonnes of food aid have been provided to the Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan by the European Economic Community, the United States of America and the rest of the world, respectively.
§ The Prime MinisterThe European Community, as the first step in providing food aid pledged under the commitment made by the European Council on 4 December, has recently purchased 13,700 tonnes of cereals for refugee relief in the Sudan, 3,500 tonnes of which are now being delivered. It has also provided £1.5 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for food purchases. The United States has pledged 45,000 tonnes of cereals for the Ethiopian refugees which is due to arrive in April and 157,000 tonnes for other parts of Sudan.
Her Majesty's Government have provided 15,000 tonnes through the World Food Programme which is now in Port Sudan, and pledged a further £2 million in food aid to UNHCR's programmes in Sudan. No figures are available yet for food aid pledges by other donors to Sudan as a whole or to the Ethiopian refugees there.