To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had with the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Development regarding the humanitarian situation in Eritrea. [109704]

We have regular discussions with the Commission. DFID officials visited Eritrea at the end of January and met representatives of the Commission, and discussed the humanitarian situation.Since August 2002 the EC has committed £16.3 million for humanitarian work in Eritrea. A consignment of 24,000 metric tonnes of wheat for free distribution is being delivered to the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC). In addition the Commission's Humanitarian Office (ECHO) are expected to contribute a further £1 million. DFID funds about 19 per cent of EC programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Eritrea. [109706]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Glasgow, Anniesland, on 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 656W.