To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many visits members of his Department have made to the camps for internally-displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka since May 2009; and how many requests to visit such camps have been refused by the Sri Lankan authorities.

Since May 2009, our Humanitarian Adviser, based at the High Commission in Colombo, has visited the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Vavuniya at least once a month to assess the humanitarian situation and monitor the progress of Department for International Development (DFID) funded projects. In September she also visited the IDP camps in Jaffna. Officials from London have accompanied her on various occasions.

No requests to visit the camps have been refused by the Sri Lankan authorities.