§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in supplying aid in areas occupied by Bosnian Muslims.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydApproximately 115,000 tonnes of relief supplies have been delivered to victims of the conflict in Bosnia by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who is responsible for co-ordinating the international relief effort to the former Yugoslavia. More than 1.6 million people, mostly in Muslim areas, rely on this effort.
Most supplies are provided by UNHCR's road convoys, to which the British Government are one of the largest contributors. Nearly 20,000 tonnes of supplies have been delivered throughout Bosnia by our vehicles. However, it has proved difficult to maintain adequate levels of supplies to the besieged enclaves of eastern Bosnia. The United Nations have been able to supply Sarajevo by road and airlift, but in eastern Bosnia road convoys have continually been impeded by local militia.
We welcome the United States airdrop as a short-term measure to overcome these obstacles and have contributed some £250,000 in aid supplies towards this operation. But 541W the priority remains the opening of road supply routes, since this is the only practical way of providing adequate supplies to the area.