Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, and intend to have, with UNHCR and other governments and agencies, about (1) the resettlement of refugees and migrants, and (2) preventing existing refugee camps and detention centres becoming permanent.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK maintains an ongoing dialogue with UNHCR and a range of other partners, including other governments and agencies, and has a strong and constructive relationship across a range of asylum and resettlement issues.
Our resettlement schemes offer a safe and legal route to the UK for vulnerable refugees in need of protection. We work closely with UNHCR in the operation of our schemes. UNHCR is uniquely placed to identify those living in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities who would benefit most from resettlement to the UK.
Refugee camps provide vital humanitarian assistance including shelter, food, clean water, and sanitation and medical services, but can also limit movement and longer-term options for refugees. As such, they are normally considered temporary measures of last resort. While camps provide a vital lifeline for many refugees a relatively small number (around 5.3 million refugees) live in them, with the majority in urban areas, informal settlements and out-of-camp individual accommodation.
We actively engaged in agreeing the Global Compact on Refugees, which aims to boost refugees’ self-reliance while simultaneously supporting generous host communities and countries – an approach that the UK has helped to develop and champion.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the appeal by the Libyan National Centre for Disease Control for ventilators and other medical supplies to counter COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned about the violent conflict in Libya, the impact this has on the humanitarian situation and implications for COVID-19 response. The UK is supporting the COVID-response in Libya, including through support for online information dissemination; supporting Social Peace Partnerships in over 12 municipalities to deliver awareness-raising campaigns, mobilise production of face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), and delivery of food to vulnerable families; and supporting reporting and analysis on the COVID-19 situation.
We continue to work closely with WHO and the humanitarian community in Libya to ensure that international funding and expertise are effectively deployed during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the reopening of all recognised border crossings in Syria for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is lobbying for the renewal of UN Security Council Resolution 2504, permitting cross-border aid delivery into North West Syria, before its expiry on 10 July. We are regularly raising our view at UN fora, and are using bilateral meetings to encourage other donors to support this position. It is essential that humanitarian actors continue to have the unhindered access they need to address severe needs.
Additionally, the loss of Yaroubiya crossing in January has created several critical gaps in the North East Syria healthcare response, which have not been filled by UN cross-line aid delivery from Damascus. This is particularly concerning in light of COVID-19, and we are therefore lobbying for the reinstatement of Yaroubiya crossing. Similarly, we are raising this at meetings involving the UN and other donors, and will continue to push for cross-line and cross-border aid delivery in Northern Syria.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they and international partners are providing to the government of Kenya to deal with (1) locusts, (2) malaria, (3) food shortages, and (4) COVID-19, particularly in the Nairobi and Mombasa regions.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK is supporting the Government of Kenya’s response to locusts through a £7 million contribution to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation’s regional locust appeal, and core funding to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, which has committed £7.5 million. This will help support efforts to control and manage the outbreak.
UK support to malaria is provided through the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria (GFATM), to which the UK contributes approximately 10 per cent of the overall budget. To date, GFATM has disbursed approximately £311 million for malaria in Kenya, the majority of which has been used to procure key commodities for treatment, testing and bed nets.
On food shortages, since 2007, the UK has committed £255 million to establish and support the government’s Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) in four arid counties. HSNP provides regular cash transfers to over 100,000 households, with capacity to reach an additional 275,000 households during drought periods. The transfers are largely used to meet beneficiaries’ food needs. In addition, the World Food Programme is supporting GoK to assist up to 390,000 vulnerable and food insecure people, including through cash transfers and in-kind food assistance.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian aid package for Libya proposed by the government of Malta and agreed with EU Foreign Ministers on 22 April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We welcome efforts to address the humanitarian situation in Libya. The UK remains deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in Libya and by the potential for COVID-19 to have a devastating impact. We urge all parties to the conflict to de-escalate and engage with the UN and the humanitarian community to reduce the impact on the population and to allow an effective response to the shared threat of COVID-19. The UK continues to support humanitarian response in Libya, including in the healthcare sector.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what humanitarian aid they have provided to the Makhmur refugee camp since 1998.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is one of the largest contributors to the international humanitarian response and has committed £261 million in humanitarian support to Iraq since 2014 through multilateral and NGO partners. This has provided a vital lifeline to millions who are most urgently in need following the conflict with Daesh. The UK does not currently provide direct funding to Makhmur camp. We are in regular contact with the Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those most in need and that authorities at all levels seek durable solutions for those displaced by conflict, which are safe, voluntary and sustainable.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the decision by the governments of Italy, Malta and Libya to disallow landing facilities for refugees and migrants rescued at sea, what plans they have to call for the establishment of COVID-19 testing and quarantining arrangements for refugees and migrants in those and other countries.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
This is a fast-moving situation and Italy, Malta and Libya are all adapting their approach to the evolving threat posed by COVID-19. Their responses include dedicated structures to quarantine rescued migrants, mandatory self-isolation for 14 days, testing regimes and, in Libya’s case, disembarkation only in accordance with the Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration’s capacity to provide shelter. The UK is monitoring these situations closely. In Libya, the UK continues to provide humanitarian support in the healthcare sector.
The UK has contributed over £744 million of UK Aid in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, including £20 million to the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR) to ensure UK Aid meets the needs of vulnerable groups such as refugees. This includes providing access to health services and medical supplies, improving shelters so people with symptoms can isolate, and making sure that there are adequate hygiene supplies and facilities for hand washing in camps and large settlements, to prevent the humanitarian disaster that mass infections among refugees would bring.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that necessary aid access to Syria is maintained, including by alternative routes, following the UN Security Council Decision of 10 January only to re-authorise two of the four crossing-points from Turkey to Syria for a period of six months rather than 12.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are gravely disappointed that the new resolution loses two of the four crossing-points into Syria, including Yaroubiya, the only UN-mandated border crossing into the North East. With UN agencies unable to deliver aid cross-border into North East Syria, and medical supplies from Yaroubiya reaching 1.4 million people last year, DFID Ministers and UK Officials are raising this with the UN, and will ask the UN to report regularly on the humanitarian situation in North East Syria. DFID is also speaking with international partners to determine how to meet the immediate shortfall in medical supplies. The UK is committed to supporting UN and NGO partners to have unfettered humanitarian access to all those in need in Syria, across all modalities, and this cannot be time-restricted.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made, or intend to make, to the Kurdistan Regional Government about the blockade of the Maxmur refugee camp; and what discussions they have had with agencies of the United Nations on the impact of the blockade, including on the health of the camp's residents
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government has not made any representations to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) about the Maxmur refugee camp. Restrictions of movement are limited to Erbil. The UN Refugee Agency is negotiating with the KRG on allowing this camp population access to Erbil. We continue to monitor restrictions of movement across camp populations and regularly meet with UN agencies and the KRG to discuss the humanitarian situation inside camps.
The Secretary of State has been in contact with Sir Mark Lowcock, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, to identify any gaps in the humanitarian response, and ensure those affected by the situation in Northeast Syria are getting the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difficulties of relocating the displaced people still in the Rukban camp, near the frontier of Syria and Jordan; what discussions they have had on that subject; and with whom.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We have been closely following the situation in Rukban camp, including the difficulties of relocating displaced people.
The UK has consistently engaged with the UN, Jordan and the US on Rukban. We have pressed for any movement to be safe, voluntary and informed, and for strong protection safeguards and measures to be part of any relocation plan. We have insisted that humanitarian aid assistance should be provided independently of movements and of any relocation plan. We continue to push the UN and others for a credible plan to deliver aid and sustainable solutions for relocation.