§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will reconsider the imposition of economic sanctions and the ending of export credits to Iraq in the light of the mass evictions of Kurdish Iraqi citizens from border areas and the Iraqi Government's refusal to allow independent observers into the depopulated area.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe do not believe that unilateral economic measures would be effective in ending human rights abuses in Iraq. It is better to maintain a working relationship if we are to influence Iraq's behaviour. We continue to press the Iraqi authorities for full details of their present resettlement programme, and to allow diplomats and journalists to be able to visit the areas concerned.
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§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether he has obtained details from the Iraqi Government on which towns and villages in Iraqi Kurdistan have been depopulated in recent weeks;
(2) whether, in the light of the Iraqi ambassador's recent statement of the Iraqi Government's intention to depopulate an additional stretch of Iraq's border, he has obtained the names of the towns and villages within this area which now face imminent eviction of the population.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe continue to press the Iraqi authorities for details of their Kurdish resettlement programme. The Iraqi Government also issued a statement on 26 June providing some further information.
§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the eviction of Kurds from border areas in Iraq.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe remain seriously concerned at allegations of forced resettlement of Kurds in northern Iraq. We continue to press the Iraqi authorities to allow journalists and diplomats to visit the areas concerned to see for themselves.
§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the report of European Community representatives in Baghdad on the human rights situation in Iraq will be made available in the Library.
§ Mr. WaldegraveReports compiled by EC ambassadors are confidential documents under the rules of European political co-operation. It is not, therefore, open to us to make such reports publicly available.