Andrew Mitchell
Main Page: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)Department Debates - View all Andrew Mitchell's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(5 years ago)
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Mr Speaker
I observe that there is considerable competition between cerebral colleagues—very challenging for the Chair. I call Andrew Mitchell.
Mr Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Minister is surely right that all members of the international community should line up behind the proposals put forward by António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Minister is equally right to underline the point that the earlier British intervention was a humanitarian intervention, approved by the United Nations, to stop a terrible massacre of people in Benghazi, which would have taken place had we not intervened.
Mark Field
I thank my right hon. Friend for what he has said. We were exchanging notes earlier—we were both abroad this weekend and rushed back, from Rwanda in his case and Bangladesh in mine, for this statement.
Let me say a little about the broader aid work that has been done. As part of the Department for International Development’s £75 million migration programme, working along the whole route from west Africa via the Sahel to Libya, up to £5 million has been allocated for humanitarian assistance and protection for migrants and refugees in Libya, including targeted healthcare. We will continue to do that important work into the future, with humanitarian measures in mind.