Kosovo (Hansard, 29 April 1999)

§ Mr. Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the cost of restoring Kosovan(a) infrastructure and (b) housing to March 1999 levels. [82475]

§ Mr. Foulkes
It is impossible at this stage to make a reliable estimate of the costs of restoring infrastructure and housing in Kosovo. An early needs assessment will be part of the process for planning refugee return and longer term reconstruction, which was begun by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and her colleagues from the US, French, German and Italian development ministries at their meeting in London on 22 April.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how the additional £20 million funding recently announced by her Department for the Kosovar refugees is being spent. [82668]

§ Mr. Foulkes
We are funding airlifts and the necessary logistical support to overcome the constraints on delivering international assistance into the region and to internal movements of supplies. We have put in aircraft 249W handling teams at Tirana and Skopje airports and a trucking convoy operation from Dunes port in Albania. We are working with NATO and UNHCR to establish and run refugee centres in Albania and Macedonia. We have provided specialist personnel to strengthen agency capacity in key areas such as healthcare and camp security and have also funded a range of projects of international agencies and NGOs. Full details of the assistance provided by DFID have been deposited in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proposals she has evaluated for the movement of refugees from Macedonia to Albania. [82669]

§ Mr. Foulkes
We have received no specific proposals for the movement of refugees from Macedonia to Albania. It is normal practice for refugees to be cared for in the first country in which they seek safety. Any movement to third countries should be entirely voluntary —we have made clear our concern to the Macedonian Government about the way in which people were initially dispatched to other countries, including Albania, without their consent. It must also take into account the hosting capacity of the receiving country —Albania has already received over 350,000 refugees from Kosovo, and facilities there are stretched.