•
RESTRICTED
Lebanon
Throughout the civil war the British Government made clear their commitment to Lebanon's territorial integrity, but since the Arabs themselves regarded the Lebanon crisis as an exclusively Arab problem, there was little opportunity to give practical help.
Since the imposition of the ceasefire in November 1976, we have made plain to President Sarkis that we support his efforts to restore full stability and peace to Lebanon, and have expressed a willingness to do all we can to help. Last year we gave £500,000 in humanitarian relief aid (almost entirely in the form of donations to the International Red Cross and the UN Trust Fund for Lebanon). The ODM is providing further assistance under its technical cooperation programme (amounting to £200,000 during 1977/78) and some of this has already been taken up in funding British studies on the reconstruction of Beirut port and on industrial estates and related housing.
In view of our already large contributions towards emergency and relief aid and reconstruction in the Lebanon, we felt unable to contribute further in response to the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees' appeal, last June, for donations towards a programme of resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons in the Lebanon.
Displaced Persons in Cyprus
There are approximately 198,000 involuntarily displaced persons in Cyprus (180,000 were made refugees in 1974; the increase in this figure includes natural increase since 1974 and expulsions from the Karpag's area). Of these, about 13,000 are still living under canvass or in temporary huts, including 3,300 in the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAS) and 7,500 in enclaves within the SBAS. UNHCR has assisted in financing and constructing a number of prefabricated houses the figure is believed to be
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.