£2bn a year UK aid to nations with the worst human rights
BrITAIN ploughs almost £2billion of aid each year into countries with dire human rights records, it can be revealed.
The Foreign Office has put 30 countries on its human rights watch-list for overseeing rape, torture and extrajudicial killings.
But despite this, the Daily Mail can reveal the UK’s aid department last year funnelled development cash into more than half of these countries.
It means hundreds of millions are being poured into 17 of the worst human rights offenders, such as Zimbabwe, Burma and the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
Shockingly, the total amount spent in these countries increased by 7 per cent in one year to £1.87billion in 2016/17.
The findings will raise further questions about how effective the £13billion a year that goes on international aid really is – as well as the wisdom of keeping David Cameron’s target of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid.
It comes after a recent report by the National Audit Office said aid cash was being dispatched overseas in a last-minute frenzy each year to meet spending targets
Last night, the Department for International Development pointed out that British money does not necessarily go to for-
‘Violence, poverty and exploitation’
eign governments themselves, and often goes to charities and other organisations.
But critics hit out at the farce of the Foreign Office warning about countries’ human rights records while Dfid was pouring cash into them.
Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘It seems extraordinary that we would be giving money to countries whose regimes we regard as failing on human rights. I would have thought we would be concentrating our aid on countries where the government is trying to ... improve matters.’
A 2015 report by the Independent Commission on Aid Impact warned ministers risked bringing the aid budget ‘into disrepute’ by spending millions on training the police forces of regimes with poor human rights records. In 2015/ 16, Dfid sent £1.74billion to 17 nations on the Foreign Office’s ‘human rights priority’ list – rising to £1.87billion a year later.
This included £417million to Pakistan, up from £328million the year before. This is despite the Foreign Office warning it was concerned about serious violations of women’s rights.
The Foreign Office also warned that the lack of recognition of women’s rights in Afghanistan had left girls ‘susceptible to violence, poverty and exploitation’.
Nevertheless, DfID sent £168million to the war-torn country in 2016/17 – up from £120million.
Last night a Government spokesman said: ‘The UK speaks candidly and frankly to all countries in which we work, and firmly holds governments to account on issues of human rights. We will not hesitate to use UN resolutions and sanctions to focus international attention and action on any country where we have concerns.’
Dfid said it works closely with the Foreign Office to raise concerns with governments. A spokesman said: ‘UK aid is spent where it is most needed and is subject to rigorous internal and external checks and scrutiny at all stages to ensure it helps those who need it and delivers value for money.’ The Foreign Office said the 30 countries named were not necessarily the worst human rights abusers, but were ones where the UK felt it could have some influence on regimes’ conduct.