Jeremy Lefroy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to provide humanitarian funding to (a) refugees from and (b) internally displaced persons in Burundi.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK Government is extremely concerned by the ongoing political unrest in Burundi and its humanitarian consequences, including internally displaced persons and the flow of Burundian refugees to neighbouring countries.

The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to the regional appeal, after the US. DFID offices across the region, including in Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, are working closely to monitor the situation, review preparedness activities and provide humanitarian support. £18.15 million has been committed by DFID for refugee response in the region through UN agencies, such as UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP, and international NGOs. This funding includes £14.25 million to support refugees in Tanzania and £3.9 million to support refugees in Rwanda. We are staying in close contact with these agencies about future funding needs. DFID has deployed a Humanitarian Advisor to the region in support of the response and to monitor funding provided so far.