Burma
International Development
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to assist the delivery of humanitarian aid to conflict victims in Burma.
Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)
British aid is supporting humanitarian assistance in Kachin state, Burma, which is being delivered by a number of Kachin-based NGOs.
Around 27,000 internally displaced people have received assistance in
the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation, health and
bedding. Further support is planned.
Along the
border between Thailand and Burma, British aid supports humanitarian
needs for internally displaced people inside Burma by providing food
security, sanitation and grants to help with the cost of schooling. We
also provide food, shelter, other necessities and improved access to
legal assistance to approximately 140,000 Burmese refugees in camps in
Thailand. The total allocation for this work from 2009 to 2012 is more
than £8 million. DFID
will be implementing a new programme of humanitarian assistance for
those fleeing conflict along the Thai-Burma border later this year.
During visits to Burma from the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend Mr Mitchell,
all pressed the Burmese Government on the need for humanitarian access
to conflict areas in Burma. I also raised this issue with Shwe Mann,
Burma's Speaker of the Lower House, when he visited the UK in May.
