asked Her Majesty’s Government:

What short-term and long-term aid they plan to give Burma following Cyclone Nargis.

My Lords, the UK has pledged an initial contribution of £5 million for the immediate relief effort. This includes financial assistance channelled through the UN, the Red Cross and NGOs and air-lifting emergency supplies such as tents, water containers, blankets and plastic sheets. We will make further decisions as more detailed assessments on need come in. A DfID team of emergency response experts arrived in Burma last weekend.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. Can any action be taken through the UN in terms of its duty to protect, or is that seen as counterproductive? Is the Minister satisfied that the first plane with aid from the UK is, as I understand it, leaving only today? Is there not more that can be done to channel aid through the NGOs, which are already working quietly and effectively in the field, to prevent what is at the moment a natural disaster becoming a public health catastrophe?

My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness that it is our priority to prevent a tragedy becoming a total catastrophe. As chair of the UN Security Council, we have made a number of suggestions but the response from China, Russia and other countries, including the ASEAN countries, is that it would be counterproductive at present to raise the duty to protect; we have not had a positive response to that.

With regards to DfID’s flights, we are pleased to say that we have got a flight in. As the noble Baroness said, it departed from Dubai for Burma today, where we have stockpiled tents, water containers, blankets and plastic sheets. We also have, we hope, two more scheduled flights—and more to follow in the coming week—and a DfID logistics expert at Rangoon airport working with the World Food Programme to try to co-ordinate getting the aid out of the airport. DfID is also flying in low loaders—one of the problems is that the aid cannot be got off some of the planes because there is not equipment there to do that—and flat-bottomed boats.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that, with this issue, not a moment should be wasted? Is she also aware that, as of today, Save the Children Fund has reached 100,000 people because it is already working in the five worst-affected areas? Given that fact, if we have a delivery agency on our doorstep, it would seem sensible that all government moneys that are going to be channelled into that area—we have been not very successful with that so far—ought to be given to Save the Children and organisations of a similar ilk.

My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that we are witnessing the worst humanitarian disaster since the Asian tsunami of 2004. She referred to Save the Children; we are working through NGOs such as Save the Children, World Vision, Merlin, CARE International, Action Against Hunger, Christian Aid, Concern, Muslim Aid, Oxfam and Population Services International. We are working through the Red Cross, the UN and the NGOs; that co-ordination is essential because, as my noble friend says, they are there on the ground.

My Lords, the Minister’s words are very encouraging indeed but can she comment on the troubling reports in newspapers ranging from those in India to those in our own country that state that in some cases the Burmese junta has diverted aid to its own barracks and in some cases it has sold the aid on the free market? The price of rice has increased by 30 per cent in Burma in the past couple of months. Are the representations that are being made by Her Majesty’s Government and other Governments to allow visas for professionally qualified aid workers to get in and to distribute aid, bypassing the Burmese army, reaching a satisfactory conclusion?

My Lords, the issue of visas is extremely patchy. There is some improvement and more advisers and aid specialists are getting in, but not nearly enough. As we know, time is of the essence. There has been some improvement, but not nearly enough. The noble Baroness raised the issue of the purloining of aid by the Burmese regime; because it is such a closed regime it is very difficult to know, except for anecdotal evidence, exactly what is happening. All that we can do is ensure that none of our aid goes to the Government.

My Lords, I declare an interest as a vice-president of Tear Fund, which is already in Burma working with local partners. Further to the answer that the noble Baroness gave, will the DfID team be directed to work specifically with the local civil society groups and the Buddhist and Christian groups that are already working in the cyclone area?

My Lords, we will work with all NGOs and faith groups that are working in the worst-affected areas. We are trying to co-ordinate from our DfID office in Rangoon but we are working as closely as possible with everyone in the field.

My Lords, has the Minister taken on board what the noble Baroness, Lady Billingham, said; namely, that the Government should try to work with NGOs that are long established there? She reeled off a list of wonderfully worthy NGOs. Are they actually established in Burma? Will she take to heart the suggestion about Save the Children and let us know?

My Lords, several of the NGOs that I “reeled off”, as the noble Baroness said, are established in Burma, such as Save the Children, CARE International and World Vision. They have been in Burma for some time. As the noble Baroness has intimated, it is absolutely right for us to work with them as closely as possible, because they have some distribution networks. We must work with them, and we will obviously try to get as many people in as possible. They in turn are working with their local helpers.