Refugee Movements: Lebanon
Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Lemos
Lord Lemos (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord. Existing bilateral programming continues to bolster preparedness and national response capacity. This includes a £1 million top-up in January to pre-position emergency supplies via the British Red Cross and the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as smaller reallocations by the UNFPA, IOM, UNICEF and others, to meet urgent needs. We will, of course, keep under consideration any requests for further help. We are very mindful of the situation in Lebanon. It is an enormous displacement: hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and are sleeping in temporary shelters on the seafront in Beirut. We will certainly take that forward. With regard to people smuggling, this is a fast-evolving situation, as I am sure the noble Lord knows. We will continue to monitor that, but we are very mindful of those dangers.
Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)
My Lords, the increasing turbulence in the Middle East—in Lebanon, yes, but also in Sudan, South Sudan and Iran—means many more humanitarian tragedies and many more people who technically qualify as refugees and asylum seekers. Are we prepared for this? What are we doing in consultation with our European allies to prepare for a greater influx of refugees and asylum seekers?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
My Lords, I have answered questions before at this Dispatch Box about the situation in Sudan and elsewhere. We are very mindful of the movement of refugees.