Mr. Robert G. HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he plans to provide for refugees in Asia.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI have approved an allocation of £8 million from this year's humanitarian aid budget, more than £6 million of which will be provided to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross and to non-governmental organisations for their work with Afghan refugees. This is in recognition of the very serious continuing problems of the 5 million or so Afghans living in exile in Pakistan and Iran.
Assistance will also be made available for the work of UNHCR in Sri Lanka, the UN Border Relief Organisation (UNBRO) and NGOs working on the Thai-Cambodia border and with Vietnamese boat people.