Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided aid payments to Syrian businesses which have been approved by the EU and the US government.

My Department has not made any direct aid payments to Syrian businesses. Our aid is delivered through the United Nations, international non-governmental organisations and other international organisations.

The UN, which operates in a very difficult environment in Syria, has assured us that they comply with all relevant sanctions.