Written question asked by Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour) on Thursday, 26 June 2008.

Iraq: Refugees

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their assessment of the appeal made by local aid organisations and the United Nations Refugee Agency on 12 May for $127 million to help Iraqi internally displaced persons and refugees until the end of 2008.

Answer: International donors have already contributed $134 million to the UNHCR's 2008 Iraq appeal, which is primarily designed to address the needs of Iraqi refugees in the region. The UNHCR has now asked for a further $127 million, in order to meet its 2008 Iraq appeal target of $261 million. DfID has already contributed a total of £17 million for humanitarian assistance to Iraq this year, including £3 million to the UNHCR appeal—making the UK its fourth largest donor. We have also committed: £7 million to the International Committee for the Red Cross; £5 million to the UN Consolidated Appeal for Iraq; and £2 million to the World Food Programme (WFP). Since 2003, the UK has committed over £149 million in humanitarian assistance for Iraq. It is important to note that the UNHCR Iraq appeal was only announced in January of this year, and we can still expect some international donors who have not yet pledged funds to do so in the coming months.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 3846; 702 c266WA
Session: 2007-08
Subjects: Development aid International assistance Iraq Refugees Internally displaced people UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk