Asked by: David Ward (Liberal Democrat - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the number of Rohingya people from Burma who have fled to Bangladesh since 2012; and what assistance the Government is providing to those people.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Whilst there is no officially agreed number of the Rohingya population, most international agencies estimate that there is up to 500,000 Rohingya people in Bangladesh.
DFID provides core contributions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which manages the official camps for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as well as through other partners such as the European Commission. This support includes providing shelter, access to water and sanitation, vocational training and food supplies to malnourished refugees.
Asked by: David Ward (Liberal Democrat - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which companies and organisations are subcontracted or given grants by the World Bank to carry out projects in Burma funded by British aid.
Answered by Alan Duncan
DFID does not track all companies and organisations subcontracted or given grants by multilateral partners, such as the World Bank. DFID's Development Tracker, on the gov.uk website, and the World Bank's website contain many details about procurement and the flow of funds for individual projects. We also publish, on the gov.uk website, our Statement of Priorities and Expectations for Suppliers which sets expectations for the use of subcontracted organisations.
Asked by: David Ward (Liberal Democrat - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is providing additional funding to The Border Consortium to help reverse recent ration cuts for refugees from Burma in camps in Thailand which they supply.
Answered by Alan Duncan
DFID is funding The Border Consortium though a three year programme which started in November 2012. The UK is one of the largest donors to The Border Consortium.
Asked by: David Ward (Liberal Democrat - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of food, fuel and medical supplies entering Gaza each day.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Israeli movement and access restrictions, exacerbated by the closure of illegal smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, have led to serious shortages of fuel and medical supplies and have driven up the price of food. 71% of households in Gaza are either food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. The World Health Organisation estimates that 29% of drugs are at zero stock (less than one month's supply). Due to severe shortages of fuel, Gaza's power plant operates at half its capacity, triggering power outages of up to 12 hours per day and sometimes shutting down completely.
Asked by: David Ward (Liberal Democrat - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK aid to Burma is channelled through Burmese government-approved organisations or mechanisms.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK does not provide funding directly to the Burmese government. We publish details of which organisations receive DFID funding, and how much they have received, on the gov.uk Development Tracker.