The UK has today pledged fresh humanitarian support for the Rohingya people living in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The support comes ahead of the looming cyclone and monsoon season, and includes help to vaccinate almost one million people against deadly cholera. Continue reading UK aid to help people in Cox’s Bazar ahead of monsoon season
A new UK aid package will provide life-saving food, medicine, clean water and sanitation to millions of desperate Yemenis facing disease and hunger, Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt has announced. Continue reading UK sends emergency aid to Yemen as eight million people face starvation
More than 40 British doctors, nurses and firefighters from the UK’s Emergency Medical Team (EMT) are making their way to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to save thousands of lives at risk from a rapid and deadly outbreak of diphtheria. Continue reading UK medics race to Bangladesh to tackle deadly diphtheria outbreak
UK aid provides lifeline to defenceless and wounded Syrians to help them return to a liberated Raqqa
The International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for urgent international action to end the “death sentence” that innocent people of Raqqa city still face from explosive booby-traps and wounds inflicted by war. Continue reading Call for international action to end Raqqa “death sentence”
The UK Government has today pledged extra help for the victims of the Burmese military’s atrocities by doubling donations made by the British public to the cause. Continue reading Burma crisis appeal: UK Government pledges to double public donations
The UK is providing a further £5 million UK aid package for Dominica, the island worst hit by Hurricane Maria, International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced during a visit to the region yesterday.
Hurricane Maria ripped through Dominica last week, leaving 98% of buildings damaged and thousands without power. It was the first category five hurricane to hit the island in living memory, affecting almost the entire 70,000 population.
The UK aid will provide immediate relief, including shelter, hygiene kits and cooking equipment, to the areas left devastated by the tropical storm.
Ms Patel announced the fresh UK government support as she visited HMS Ocean, which on Friday delivered 60 tonnes of UK aid to the Caribbean, almost doubling the amount of aid in the region.
She also visited the British Virgin Islands to see UK aid in action, meeting families whose lives were torn apart by Hurricane Irma, which struck earlier this month. She also visited Anguilla to see UK efforts to get schools and businesses up and running to speed up recovery.
The £5 million pledge brings the British Government’s financial support for islands hit by Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma to £62 million. This has gone to islands including British Overseas Territories: British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos.
The British Government is also doubling UK public donations made to the British Red Cross’ Irma and Maria appeals, a pledge which has so far raised over £2 million.
During the visit Ms Patel said: “The UK has pledged to give £5 million to the people of Dominica, the island worst hit by Hurricane Maria – on top of the £57 million already promised to the region – to strengthen recovery following these relentless disasters.
“I have come to the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla to see first-hand UK aid in action, helping families whose lives have been ripped apart first by Hurricane Irma and then Maria. The UK is leading the way in the relief effort, delivering emergency food, water and shelter to those who need it most. We will continue to clear up after this devastation in the weeks, months and years to come.”
The UK was one of the first to arrive in Dominica following the storm, with DFID field teams immediately bringing urgent medical supplies such as insulin and water purifiers. Much needed shelter has also arrived.
The UK is working with the UN, Red Cross and other partners on the ground to distribute aid, including food, across Dominica. Alongside this, we are supporting the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to provide emergency healthcare, safe water and sanitation, and manage disease outbreaks. UK aid will go directly on restoring health services and increasing access to healthcare in the most affected areas.
This UK aid comes after the Prime Minister of Dominica formally requested international support to address the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
40 DFID aid experts are on the ground alongside over 2,000 military and 50 police officers and DFID has chartered a number of flights and vessels which will transport additional relief items when and where they are most needed.
The DFID field team are also looking at long-term recovery on the islands, and rebuilding houses, hospitals and schools. During her visit, Ms Patel will meet Government representatives from the overseas territories to discuss how to build back better to make sure these islands have greater resilience to future storms.
40 tonnes of humanitarian aid has already been distributed across the Caribbean, including over four tonnes of food and water on the British Virgin Islands; 720 litres of water to the Turks and Caicos Islands; and over two tonnes of building materials to Anguilla.
Work to prepare Anguilla for the impact of Hurricane Maria proved hugely successful in preventing further damage to infrastructure. Two tonnes of corrugated iron was provided to bolster hospital and police stations roofs. Food, tarpaulins, hygiene and shelter kits provided by DFID are also being distributed on the island by the Red Cross.
Vital supplies, including food, bottled water and shelters, were also distributed to the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier this week via three RAF flights and DFID field teams are urgently assessing the damage on the island. A DFID barge will soon arrive with supplies to restore power, including building materials, generators and equipment.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Rapid Deployment Team (RDT) has arrived in St Lucia to provide consular assistance to affected British nationals who have left Dominica by ferry. The FCO is also finalising plans for an RDT to travel to Dominica to provide consular assistance to affected British Nationals.
VIDEO: footage of International Development Secretary arriving on Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Hurricanes Irma and Maria have affected large parts of the Caribbean. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has updated travel advice to provide guidance for British nationals who are in countries and overseas territories affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The hotline for British people affected or concerned about others: +44 (0)20 7008 0000.
Latest travel advice for places affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria:
See also the guidance on what to do if you’re affected by a crisis overseas.
International Development Secretary Priti Patel has repeated calls for an end to the violence in Burma (Myanmar) which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes to seek safety in neighbouring Bangladesh. Recognising the ‘unprecedented scale’ of the crisis in Bangladesh and Burma, Britain is providing an additional £25 million to meet the urgent needs in both countries of those affected by the violence. Continue reading Patel calls for end to violence in Burma as more aid is sent to support stricken Rohingyas
UK continues to urgently deliver vital aid to the victims of Hurricane Irma
Shelter kits provided by UK aid are being distributed in Anguilla to help those left homeless by Hurricane Irma. The kits, transported by Britain’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay, are being delivered to people in need by the Anguillan Red Cross. Continue reading Hurricane Irma: UK aid reaching stricken communities
One in four Syrian refugees settles in Scotland
New figures have revealed that Scotland has welcomed just over 25% of the total number of Syrian refugees that have arrived in the UK through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme (SVPRP) since 2015.
Since the SVPRP scheme was expanded in 2015, 7,055 Syrians have arrived in the UK in total, 1,800 of whom have settled in Scotland.
This news comes the same week it was revealed the UK Government has not taken in any child refugees under the Lord Dubs scheme this year, despite committing to resettle 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees from Syria by 2020.
Commenting, Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson said: “It’s excellent that Scotland has welcomed over a quarter of those Syrian refugees who have arrived in the UK, under the resettlement programme, since 2015.
“But more needs to be done – in what is an off-the-scale humanitarian crisis that’s difficult to comprehend here at home.
“A recent all-party inquiry revealed that the UK public would not tolerate the UK Government turning away from this humanitarian crisis if they were more aware of what was happening. It also reported that UK ministers have done “as little as legally possible” to help unaccompanied lone children who have fled war and conflict, which has left them vulnerable to trafficking.
“It’s time for the UK Government to significantly step up its refugee resettlement efforts in the midst of what is possibly the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.”
In a separate development, the Scottish and Welsh Governments have written jointly to the UK Minister for Immigration expressing concern about the treatment of unaccompanied child refugees.
Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, Angela Constance and Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant sent the following letter to Brandon Lewis, urging the UK Government to take into consideration the views and issues of the devolved Governments:
Dear Brandon,
Thank you very much for the time you have taken to meet with both of us on separate occasions over the summer months. We both look forward to working with you and we wish you well in this new portfolio. With regard to the meetings which have taken place, you have and will be hearing from both of us separately on the issues that were raised.
Both the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government are subject to UK Government process and procedure with regard to s67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (the Dubs amendment); and, s69-72 of the Act (transfer protocol and national transfer mechanism). Due to our mutual responsibilities for these areas in our devolved legislatures, we thought it would be helpful for all parties if we laid out our thoughts to you jointly.
With regard to s67, we have discussed these matters and our experience so far has been the same. From the start of the implementation of this scheme, we have struggled with the lack of information that has been forthcoming from those running this operation. This continues to be the case and we are aware that only a couple of hundred unaccompanied children have been transferred of the 480 placements identified. We are aware of the difficult circumstances that the emergency clearance of the Calais camps led to, and that at present, you are awaiting the outcome of the judicial review which makes it difficult to comment. However, we both feel that overall, the lack of planning and sharing of useful information from coordinators has inhibited our ability to plan ahead. We are seeking assurances from you that steps have been taken or are being put into place to mitigate against a repeat of these circumstances.
We understand you were meeting with your counterpart Ministers in the Member States as a means of resolving the transfer delays and we hope these meetings have achieved a positive outcome.
Separately, we would also like to refer to s69-72 of the Act which would put the National Transfer Mechanism onto a statutory footing in Wales and Scotland. We have discussed with you the requirement for a SI derives from the legal advice that our local authorities have received which describes a local authority’s liability requiring legislative underpinning. We understand this will result in the necessary timetable which allows for parliamentary process and we were pleased to hear of your commitment to pursuing this. We both remain committed to this piece of work and look forward to a satisfactory outcome.
We also note the report of the Human Trafficking Inquiry, initiated by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery, published on 10 July. We highlight statements with which we agree, and whilst we appreciate there is a difference in opinion as to the why and the how from the UK Government perspective, these statements provide for an outcome which we can all support, that of supporting vulnerable unaccompanied children:
‘The inquiry found no evidence that providing a safe route for children to travel to the UK acted as a ‘pull factor’ or encouraged traffickers. Instead the evidence showed that leaving children without safe and legal options left them in limbo, stranded in dangerous and often violent situations. In many instances this resulted in children turning to smugglers, putting themselves at risk of dangerous journeys and of exploitation to pay the smugglers.’
And the recommendation which says: The ‘Dubs scheme’, or Section 67 of the Immigration Act, needs to be open to children in practice and more children need to be included. This will require expanding the criteria so that it doesn’t exclude vulnerable children due to their age or nationality and a revised cut-off date. Most urgent is the quick and transparent processing of these applications. The administration of the Dubs scheme requires multi-agency teams of specialists on the ground where most children are located, including Calais and Dunkirk to build confidence in safe routes and resistance to traffickers.’
We are grateful for the recent meetings we have had with you, to discuss s67 and wider refugee and asylum seeker matters and look forward to continuing our engagement with you on these important concerns for all of our Governments. We also look forward to receiving replies to our as yet unanswered correspondences.
We are copying this letter to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell MP and the Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns MP.
Yours sincerely
Carl Sargeant AC/AM Angela Constance MSP
Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Gymunedau a Phlant Cabinet Secretary for Communities,
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children Social Security and Equalities
Cc.:
Home Secretary
Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales
In response to the unprecedented public support for the Disasters Emergency Committee East Africa Crisis Appeal, this weekend the UK Government will match pound for pound the next £5 million donated by the public.
This is in addition to the £5 million match funding already donated by the UK Government which helped Britain raise a phenomenal £12 million for the DEC appeal in just 24 hours.
“I’ve seen first-hand how every penny really does make a huge difference to saving lives across East Africa. That’s why the Government will double donations up to £5 million this weekend to make your money go even further.
“The Great British public has acted without hesitation to stop people dying of famine and hunger. Right now UK funded aid is reaching those most in need with food, water and emergency healthcare. Now it’s time for the international community to step up and follow Global Britain’s lead before it’s too late.”
This new support will double the impact of the public’s own donations up to an additional £5 million and ensure that charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need.
This brings total UK Government match funding for the DEC Appeal to £10 million. The UK’s support will go directly to the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal and provide vital and life-saving emergency supplies.
The Disasters Emergency Committee brings together 13 leading UK aid agencies to raise money at times of humanitarian crisis in poorer countries. By working together we can raise more money to save lives and rebuild shattered communities.
Donations can be made at www.dec.org.uk or by calling 0370 60 60 610.
