HC Deb 28 July 1976 vol 916 cc627-31
4. Mrs. Hayman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the USSR the issue of exit visas for the reuniting of families in accordance with the Helsinki Agreement.

6. Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the issue of exit visas and the reuniting of families, with particular reference to Ida Nudel, in accordance with the Helsinki Agreement.

7. Mr Moonman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the issue of exit visas for the reuniting of families, such as the case of Ida Nudel, in accordance with the Helsinki Agreement.

10. Mrs. Bain

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the issue of exit visas for the reuniting of families in accordance with the Helsinki Agreement.

11. Miss Boothroyd

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in accordance with the Helsinki Agreement, he will request the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to grant exit visas to those people wishing to be reunited with their families in other parts of the world.

The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. John Tomlinson)

My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State saw the Soviet Chargé d'Affaires on 26th July and exchanged views with him on the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act. The reunification of families was one of the points discussed. It would not, I suggest, be in the interest of those most directly concerned for me to enter into detail concerning individual cases. But the Soviet authorities can be in no doubt of the strength of feeling which rightly exists in this country about cases such as that of Ida Nudel.

Mrs. Hayman

Is my hon. Friend aware that some of us feel that it is most important that we and the Government, even if they have to do it in private, should make perfectly clear to the Soviet authorities our concern about cases like that of Mrs. Nudel, who wishes to join her husband and her family in Israel? Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the Soviet authorities' implementation of the Helsinki Agreement when they continue to harass citizens whose only desire is to join their families outside the USSR?

Mr. Tomlinson

There can be no doubt that we shall not be satisfied until all the provisions of the Final Act have been put into effect by all the signatory States. Any proper assessment must await the 1977 review conference. It would not be helpful to enter into detailed discussion of individual cases. We believe that progress is more likely to come from private representations than from public complaints. The Soviet Government can be in no doubt about the strength of feeling which Ida Nudel's case has rightly aroused in this country.

Mrs. Bain

Does not the Minister recognise that both the House and the Government have a moral obligation to make clear to the USSR the strength of feeling of individual Members about the failure of the Soviet Union to implement the Helsinki Agreement? Is he aware that letters sent by Members of this House to prisoners of conscience in the USSR, even when written in Russian, are sent back directly to the Member with no reason given by the Soviet Embassy?

Mr. Tomlinson

We shall not be satisfied until all the signatory States have observed all the requirements of the Final Act. The Soviet authorities fully understand the strength of feeling of hon. Members, a feeling which goes further than this House. That feeling has been made abundantly clear to the Soviet authorities, and it will continue to be made clear to them as long as we think that there are cases in which that is necessary.

Mr. Moonman

Is my hon. Friend aware that Ida Nudel has applied for an exit visa every year since 1971, each application having been refused, and that she has recently been told not to apply again until 1980 although she wants to rejoin her family? Does this not make a mockery of the Soviet signature on the Helsinki Agreement?

Mr. Tomlinson

I am fully aware of that, and there has been detailed discussion of the Ida Nudel case. Our strength of feeling has been made clear to the Soviet authorities and we shall continue to press the case. There can be no doubt that the strength of feeling has been underlined on each and every occasion. It has been made clear that we shall not be satisfied until all the requirements have been observed.

Sir John Hall

To what extent have the Soviet Government implemented the letter or spirit of any part of the Helsinki Agreement?

Mr. Tomlinson

The Soviet Government have begun to apply the Final Act's provisions in a number of respects. A note detailing the action they have taken appeared in Hansard of 10th March. The main subsequent development has been the Soviet notification of a second military manoeuvre which took place from 14th to 18th June in the Leningrad military district.

Miss Boothroyd

What test does my hon. Friend's Department apply before making known to a signatory to the agreement that it is in breach of its provisions? Instead of waiting for another 12 months, will he on this first anniversary of the Helsinki Agreement refer to the United Nations any such breach in the provisions and ask them to monitor the agreement to ensure that it becomes a living reality for all people and not only for this one particular family?

Mr. Tomlinson

I share the strength of feeling that leads my hon. Friend to make that suggestion. As regards breaches of the Helsinki Agreement, at present we should be concentrating on how we propose to deal with the review conference in Belgrade next year. As that conference is about a year away, it would be premature for us now to be determining our negotiating position, but I fully note the strength of feeling and concern that leads my hon. Friend to make the suggestion that she has put forward.

Mr. Goodhew

Does not Basket III of the Helsinki Agreement include the free movement of people across the Iron Curtain? How can credence be given to the good will of the Russian Government as long as the Berlin Wall and the death strip between East and West Germany remain?

Mr. Tomlinson

I am sure that that kind of approach will give comfort to certain people, and presumably to the Leader of the Opposition in the speech that we all read she is about to make. I do not think that that kind of approach is particularly helpful. What we are seeking to do through the process of detente is to get to a situation where we can make sure that all the signatory nations observe all the requirements of the Final Act, but to start challenging each other in that contentious language is not particularly helpful.

Mr. Whitehead

Without wishing to indulge in too much sabre rattling, may I ask my hon. Friend to convey to the Soviet authorities our deep distaste of the treatment of many of their own citizens contrary to the spirit of the Helsinki Agreement, especially Mr. Moroz and Mr. Bukovsky, who have been incarcerated in mental hospitals and who may be dead before the review of the Helsinki Agreement takes place in Belgrade in 1977?

Mr. Tomlinson

We do not need pushing to make representations about those particular cases. The representations have already been made. My hon. Friend can rest assured that the Government will continue to take every opportunity of pressing those cases whenever opportunities arise.

Mr. Maudling

In view of the hon. Gentleman's strange indignation following the supplementary question of my hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Mr. Goodhew), does he disagree with the substance of my hon. Friend's question about the Berlin Wall?

Mr. Tomlinson

I suggest that at the moment it would be in the interests of all of us who wish to see the policy of detente working to use more temperate language when describing the problems that we seek to overcome.