Written question asked by Keith Simpson (Conservative) on Wednesday, 5 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 July 2006. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Monday, 17 July 2006 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate he has made of the number of internally-displaced people in Iraq.

Answer: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) published figures in June 2006, which give an overall estimate of 1.3 million people internally displaced in Iraq.Of these, the IOM believe that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Iraq’s central and southern governorates since the bombing of the shrine at Samara on 22 February.The IOM add that numbers are estimates only and are continually changing. More information and updates are available on the IOM website (http://www.iom.int).Since the 2003 conflict, DFID has provided £85 million humanitarian assistance for Iraq, to help avert a major humanitarian crisis and to assist in the restoration of essential services. DFID has also contributed £32 million to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement in Iraq, and provided £7.2 million to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for humanitarian work, including work to assist displaced people.

Secondary information