§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 10 February 1999,Official Report, column 288, what (a) categories and (b) quantities of humanitarian assistance have been given to (i) Kurdish groups in northern Iraq and (ii) Shia groups in southern Iraq. [71428]
§ Mr. FatchettSince 1991, HMG have donated over £73 million in bilateral aid to Iraq, in addition to giving aid via the EU. We have an aid programme for northern Iraq of some £3 million a year, which focuses on village rehabilitation, provision of medical supplies and assistance for mines-affected communities. Projects are being directed through the Kurdistan Children's Fund and Kurdish Life Aid, among others.
Our £7 million programme for Baghdad-controlled Iraq includes £2 million for the International Committee of the Red Cross and £2 million for the rehabilitation of water and sanitation infrastructure. In January, we also approved £540,000 for the rehabilitation of hospitals and increased the water and sanitation project by a further £211,000 to help rehabilitate water networks. We also delivered supplies of food and medicines to hospitals in early 1998, but nothing has been delivered since June, when the Iraqi authorities banned all further delivery of food and medicines outside the "oil for food" programme.
We also have a programme of assistance to Iraqi refugees in Iran, many of whom fled from the marshlands of southern Iraq. In 1997–98 we gave over £540,000 for Iraqi refugees. This focuses on the provision of emergency supplies and primary health care for refugees living in camps.