Britain cuts its international aid by half

Elaf from Beirut: The British newspaper “The Independent” published secret plans of the government of members of Parliament, to realize important cuts in the foreign aid to many countries of the world, that will be implemented in a few weeks.

According to a report published by the Al-Hurra website, aid to Syria, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Libya, Nigeria and Lebanon will be cut in half, “despite the exacerbation of poverty. extreme and conflicts in light of the Corona Pandemic “.

These plans come after a nearly 60 percent cut in aid to “war-torn Yemen” and are considered “the first blatant evidence” of the decision by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was widely criticized after the decision to cut 4 billion pounds 5.5 billion).) Annually from the aid budget.

The plans for cuts amounting to 88 percent were revealed in “Lebanon, still reeling from the Beirut port explosion last year,” according to information obtained by the research site, “Open Democracy.”

According to the Al-Hurra report, the cuts also include plans to halt the entire CSSF budget in Sudan, which is a fund to combat conflict and promote stability and security, and is part of Britain’s aid program. to Sudan.

The plans were condemned by Andrew Mitchell, a former conservative international development secretary, because “they go against a commitment to protect humanitarian aid” from the cuts.

Christian Aid in southern Sudan warned that “the cuts in the reported range come at a bad time for a country going through a crisis.”

“The peace talks are going through a very delicate phase, and without funds to achieve peace, the talks can fail. Without peace, development cannot be achieved and humanitarian action cannot be successful,” said the organization’s director in South Sudan, James Wani.

Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan, director of Save the Children in Somalia, warned that “these reports are worse than we feared, and if they are correct, their impact on children will be very bad.”

The cuts are expected to begin next April. Only around 3.5 billion pounds are available for direct aid projects, and it is not yet known which countries “will be the hardest hit,” according to the newspaper.

Figures obtained by The Independent show that the reduction rates will be 88% in Lebanon, 67% in Syria, 63% in Libya, 60% in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 59% in South Sudan, 58% in Nigeria and 50% in the Western Balkans.