§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the requirement for aid supplies for the Darfur region of Sudan. [159226]
Mr. Gareth ThomasAccess for humanitarian workers is now beginning to open up in Darfur. Some assessments of needs are now possible, in limited areas. We know from initial reports that immediate needs include shelter, water, health and food assistance.
We have contributed over £6 million to the crisis in Darfur, through United Nations (UN) agencies and international non-governmental organisations. We have also provided four humanitarian affairs officers to assist the UN response for three months. Three of these will be based in Darfur and will, among other things, undertake assessments of humanitarian needs.
We are urging all the parties involved to re-establish a ceasefire, preferably with international monitoring, permit humanitarian access to all those in need, and resume talks to find a peaceful solution to Darfur's problems.
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§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the influx of Sudanese refugees into Chad. [159228]
Mr. Gareth ThomasA DFID Humanitarian Adviser visited Chad between 7 and 12 February. He visited refugees at the border with Sudan, who have fled from the fighting in Darfur in Western Sudan. The present location of refugees along the border is unsafe. New camps are being set up away from the border, where refugees will be safe from attack. Our Adviser visited one of these new relocation camps at Forchana. Other relocation camps are at Touloum and Kounoungu. Eight thousand refugees have been moved to the new camps to date.
The general condition of the approximately 110,000 refugees is poor. Around Tine, Medecins Sans Frontieres established that 27 per cent. of children were malnourished, whereas around Adre only quite low levels of malnutrition were detected. Lack of food, shelter, safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are the main risks.
There is an effective humanitarian response in place led by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), with significant contributions from non-governmental emergency relief organisations. The UK is one of the major contributors to this effort with an early £1 million contribution to UNHCR in October last year.