Asked by: Lord Evans of Watford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, (1) what assistance they have provided, and (2) what plans they have to provide assistance, to the government of Azerbaijan to help with its ongoing efforts to clear landmines in that country.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In June the Ministry of Defence sent Counter Explosives Experts to survey parts of Azerbaijan worst effected by unexplored ordnance to understand how the UK can best support Azerbaijan in this area. The Minister for Europe and Americas announced in September that the UK had contributed £500,000 to a United Nations Development Programme initiative to take action on mines left in the region as a legacy of the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. These funds will assist with training and personnel to support de-mining in Azerbaijan.