§ 44. Mr. A. Royleasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many members of United Kingdom embassies in Middy East countries were born in Palestine; and whether they receive the same pensions and conditions as United Kingdom-born employees.
§ Mr. George ThomsonI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not readily available.
Place of birth is not taken into account in determining pensions and conditions of Diplomatic Service staff and accordingly Palestine-born employees receive the same pensions and conditions as United Kingdom-born employees of equivalent rank and status.
§ Mr. RoyleI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his reply. Is he aware that many Palestinian-born employees in Middle Eastern embassies are not aware of their rights and are concerned about their position? Could the hon. Gentleman make certain that their position is made clear to them in our embassies in the Middle East?
§ Mr. ThomsonCertainly, I shall look into that, and if there are individual cases to which the hon. Gentleman wishes to draw my attention I will look into them.