Yugoslavia (Hansard, 20 May 1993)

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the total amount of UNHCR humanitarian aid reaching Bosnia-Herzegovina during the last two months originating from(a) the Republic of Croatia and (b) the Republic of Serbia; how much of that aid arrived by road to each destination; and how much by air.

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
The most recent figures available from UNHCR show that in February a total of 17,653 tonnes were delivered to Bosnia-Herzegovina, 24,330 tonnes were delivered in March and 6,131 tonnes in the first half of April. Most of this aid was delivered by road from UNHCR's distribution centres in Metkovic, Zagreb and Rijeka in Croatia and from Belgrade in Serbia. Exact figures showing the distribution from each centre are unavailable.
No aid was delivered by air to Bosnia-Herzegovina from Croatia or Serbia during this period—the airlift to Sarajevo operates from Ancona in Italy and has delivered a total of 38,356 tonnes to date. The air drops to eastern Bosnia operate from Rheinmain in Germany and have delivered 2,849 tonnes to date.

§ Mr. Elletson
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of Serbian refugees displaced by the conflict in the former Yugoslavia; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
The United Nations does not keep records of displaced people in the former Yugoslavia by ethnic origin. However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that there are now a total of 457,000 displaced people in Serbia, of whom 291,000 have come from Bosnia-Herzegovina and 166,000 from Croatia.

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on incidents involving the stopping of United Nations and humanitarian aid convoys by Croat forces in Bosnia on(a) 11 May and (b) 12 May; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
We understand that on Monday 10 May a UNHCR convoy manned by Bosnian Muslim drivers en route from Metkovic to Zenica was stopped at a Bosnian Croat militia (HVO) checkpoint. Reports indicate that the vehicles were damaged, some of the goods were stolen and several of the drivers were beaten. The convoy then proceeded to Gorni Vakuf, where the drivers received medical attention from British UNPROFOR troops, and finally returned to Metkovic on 11 May.
We have no reports of any incidents involving UNHCR convoys on Tuesday 11 May. But on Wednesday 12 May the HVO stopped a UNHCR convoy manned by Danish drivers which carried Italian goods and visiting Italian officials. The convoy, en route from Split to Zenica was held up for nine hours, but eventually allowed to proceed without harm to goods or personnel.
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