§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What evaluation they have made of the nature and scale of worldwide need to which the United Nations High Commission for Refugees should be responding; and what conclusions they have reached concerning the appropriate size of the contribution by the United Kingdom to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in the light of such evaluation. [HL45]
67WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)The total number of persons of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was 22.3 million as of January 2000. Of these, 11.7 million were refugees, 1.2 million asylum-seekers, 2.5 million returnees and 6.9 million internally displaced persons or others of concern. UNHCR's core mandate is the protection of refugees' rights. The organisation may also provide humanitarian assistance to persons of concern according to need.
The Department for International Development (DFID) provided approximately £20 million to UNHCR during the year 2000–01 as part of a package of targeted assistance for humanitarian response and to improve the organisation's internal management and programme delivery. Contributions this year are likely to be at a similar level, although this will depend on specific appraisal of needs in response to particular cases affecting refugees.