Written question asked by Lord Hylton (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Crawley (Labour) on Friday, 14 March 2008.

Iraq: Refugees

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make representations to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with regard to taking joint action to obtain larger and more regular payments from the Government of Iraq to Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan.

Answer: The United Nations is best placed to help the Government of Iraq step up their response to the humanitarian situation inside and outside of Iraq. The UK is supporting the UN through financial contributions to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We welcome the Government of Iraq's pledge last month to contribute $40 million in support of internally displaced Iraqis through the newly launched UN-led consolidated appeal. We understand that the Government of Iraq have not, at present, committed further support for Iraqi refugees beyond the $25 million they pledged last year. We have no plans at this time to make a specific representation to UNHCR. Since 2003, DfID has provided over £130 million in humanitarian assistance for Iraq, including Iraqi refugees in the region.

Secondary information