Middle East: Refugees

Baroness Deech Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I do not have the figures and will have to write to the noble Baroness with them. It is not only a question of the refugee camps in Jordan; as she will know, in many ways, the problems of the refugee camps in Lebanon and—worst of all—of those settled in Gaza are much more acute. I have seen Palestinian refugee camps in Damascus which I have to say were relatively well integrated into Syrian society. That seems to me very much the way forward. I agree with her that we should be asking members of the Arab League to provide more assistance.

[Baroness Deech]

Can the Minister give an assurance that he will in the mean time encourage that human rights prevail in the treatment of refugees in the Middle East? I am thinking in particular of the lack of rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are apparently unable to own property and who are excluded from healthcare. There is no reason why those rights should not be extended to them in the mean time.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, Her Majesty’s Government are strongly committed to human rights throughout the Middle East, including in the Occupied Territories.