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<p>Earlier this month a senior DFID official secured confirmation from the Palestinian
Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Finance that payments are made to the Ministry of Prisoner
Affairs, which then directly transfers funds to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails
and their families. The UK government continues to press the PA to reform the prisoner
payments system to become more needs-based, transparent and affordable. I have raised
these concerns with the Palestinian Foreign Minister, and my officials regularly do
likewise. No UK aid goes to prisoner payments. UK aid to the Palestinian Authority
(PA) is used exclusively to pay the salaries of vetted health and education public
servants, including teachers, doctors and nurses, in the West Bank. Our money goes
into a special, dedicated bank account before being paid to individuals who have been
vetted in advance through the European Union Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management
Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE), ensuring UK funding is not diverted.</p>
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