Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-10-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical support they have offered to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro as transit and recipient states of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
On September 23, the Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), pledged £3.1 million of aid to Western Balkans countries affected by the migration crisis, to cover both humanitarian and border management assistance. The funds form part of a wider UK pledge of nearly £115 million, most of which is being put towards lifesaving aid in Syria and its neighbouring countries. The funds will go through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to support projects in transit countries most affected, chiefly Serbia and Macedonia, and to support the UN agency’s regional office in Sarajevo. The £3.1 million will also support activities of the International Organisation of Migration in both Western Balkans transit countries, to further strengthen the response of host governments to the migration crisis. In addition, on 13 October, the UK despatched blankets, sleeping bags, and roll mats to Serbia for up to 11,000 vulnerable people as winter approaches.
