§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has to the effects of the Ethiopian Government's resettlement policy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RaisonI understand that some 600,000 people have so far been moved from the northern provinces in the current phase of the Ethiopian Government's resettlement programme. There have been regular reports of coercion and families being split up, and of inadequate preparation of the resettlement areas. We have on several occasions expressed our concern. I reiterated these concerns to Mr. Michael Priestly, United Nations co-ordinator in Addis Ababa, when he called on me on 7 February.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the amount of grain that has arrived in Ethiopia from each member state of the European Economic Community and the United States in each of the last six months; what promised deliveries are still outstanding from these states; when they are likely to arrive; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RaisonInformation on deliveries made and planned is contained on pages 39–53 of the lastest status report No. 18 dated 2 January 1986 from the World Food Programme's Africa task force secretariat. I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
I discussed emergency food aid for Ethiopia on 4 February with the UN Assistant Secretary-General based in Addis Ababa, Mr. Priestley. According to his figures pledges currently made only cover some 80 per cent. of the estimated need for 1986. I have therefore asked the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Natali, to propose a further substantial allocation to Ethiopia from the 1986 EC food aid programme in addition to the 150,000 tonnes that were agreed by the food aid management committee on 29 January.
The United Kingdom will be delivering 17,700 tonnes from its national programme to Ethiopia in March-April 1986 through the World Food Programme. Following my discussion with Mr. Priestley I have decided we should provide a further 13,700 tonnes bilaterally during 1986.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated total cereal requirement for famine relief in Ethiopia for 1986; what deliveries have so far been made; and what has been promised.
§ Mr. RaisonThe United Nations co-ordinator in Addis Ababa estimates that Ethiopia will need 1.2 million tonnes 23W of food aid in the form of cereals in 1986. Three hundred thousand tonnes will be available from deliveries in 1985. Our best estimate is that a further 670,000 tonnes has been firmly pledged for 1986 or is in prospect. The World Food Programme reported on 11 February that 67,000 tonnes of these new pledges had been delivered to Ethiopia.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been received by his Department within the last six months regarding levels of United Kingdom aid in Ethiopia and the Sudan.
§ Mr. RaisonThe Overseas Development Administration has received many hundreds of representations within the last six months regarding levels of United Kingdom aid in Ethiopia and the Sudan.
These include parliamentary questions, letters from hon. Members and members of the public, and petitions.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the estimated supplementary food needs for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1986, the amounts so far delivered, and all outstanding pledges, together with edible oil pledges and deliveries.
§ Mr. RaisonAfter allowing for some 31,000 tonnes carried over in stocks from 1985, net additional supplementary food needs (skimmed milk powder and high protein biscuits) for 1986 are estimated to be about 91,000 tonnes; 19,000 tonnes have so far been pledged and 1,300 tonnes delivered.
Net additional edible oil needs for 1986 are estimated to be about 43,000 tonnes; 16,800 tonnes have been pledged and 7,000 tonnes delivered.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the amounts of long-term development aid supplied by the United Kingdom to Ethiopia for the last five years, together with projected aid for the next two years, at outturn and at 1984–85 prices.
§ Mr. RaisonThe following table shows British long term development aid to Ethiopia, excluding disaster relief and food aid but including technical co-operation and training, in £'000.
Current prices* 1984–85 prices† 1980 832 1,109 1981 541 644 1982 451 500 1983 428 452 1984 572 579 * Source: British Aid Statistics 1980–84, tables 18, 22 and 23.
† Using GDP deflator.
Figures for 1985 are not yet available. In the next two years we shall be building up our modest programme of technical co-operation.
A substantial amount of aid goes to Ethiopia through multilateral agencies and the United Kingdom's share of this in 1984 was about £13.5 million; no split between long term development aid and short-term relief is available. In addition much of the food aid supplied by Britain has supported development through food-for-work schemes.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information 24W he has regarding the present level of grain stock at Assab and at Massawa in Ethiopia and in Djibouti; and how these levels compare with stocks in each of the last 12 months.
§ Mr. RaisonInformation from the World Food Programme Africa task force secretariat is that the pesent stock levels are:
Tonnes Assab 80,600 Massawa 50,400 Djibouti 16,100 Stocks in each of the last 12 months were as follows:
Level of grain stocks (thousand tonnes) Assab Massawa Djibouti End of February 1985 50.0 No accurate data available No accurate data available End of March 84.0 29.9 15.0 End of April 87.4 33.3 20.8 End of May 76.0 58.0 44.0 End of June 71.6 54.8 46.2 End of July 1985 77.8 20.5 32.2 End August 79.6 33.5 21.2 End September 85.0 29.4 17.4 End October 98.6 40.6 3.7 End November 73.8 36.8 2.6 End December 1985 56.5 27.9 18.4 End January 1986 78.8 28.7 18.3 These figures do not include any grain in ships lying offshore.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the amount of grain that will arrive in the port of Assab in Ethiopia in each of the next eight weeks and as to how much will be in store at the port in each of those weeks.
§ Mr. RaisonInformation received from the World Food Programme Africa task force secretariat on 11 February indicates that there were on the quay in Assab, 80,600 tonnes of grain and offshore 24,600 tonnes of grain. A further 107,000 tonnes are expected in February-March 1986.
As I explained to the hon. Member on 23 July 1985 at columns 501–2 shipping arrangements are made by donors in close consultation with the World Food Programme on a monthly basis. The amount in store at port will depend on the level of offtake from the port; this was 11,200 tonnes in the week to 11 February, although the recent average weekly offtake has been rather higher.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the number of people likely to need assistance during 1986 in Ethiopia and their specific requirements; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RaisonThe United Nations co-ordinator in Addis Ababa estimates that 6.22 million people, excluding those in resettlement areas, will require extraordinary food aid and other support in 1986.
I have given details of food requirements in earlier answers. The UN co-ordinator estimates that non-food aid requirements total $218 million, including $91 million for agriculture, $62 million, for transport, $17 million for health, $26 million for water supply and $22 million for blankets, medical supplies and so on.