Burma
International Development
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of internally displaced people in Burma (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b)
in June 2011; and what the change in the level of his Department's
funding for internally displaced people has been in the last year.
Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)
Reports
estimate that there are between 55,000 and 100,000 people currently
displaced as a result of the recent unrest in Rakhine state. In Kachin
state it is estimated that some 65,000 people are currently displaced.
Along the Thai-Burma border it is estimated that there are approximately
141,000 people currently displaced.
For June 2011 reports show that there was an estimated 150,000 people displaced along the Thai-Burma border.
In 2011, bilateral funding from DFID
for internally displaced people along the Thai-Burma border was around
£1.4 million. This is an increase of around £300,000 compared to 2010.
We are currently reviewing bids for DFID's new programme of support to
internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees along the Thai-Burma border, which is planned to start later this year.
In January this year the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks)
(Mr Hague), announced that DFID will be allocating an additional £2
million of bilateral funds for IDPs in Kachin. To date, just over £1.1
million of this has been spent.
