§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to secure the continuation of the rights and privileges accorded to the inhabitants of British Somaliland in the Haud under the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1954 when the Protectorate becomes independent on June 26.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)My Lords, during the recent Somaliland Protectorate Constitutional Conference, my right honourable friend, the Colonial Secretary, stated to the Somaliland delegation that in the view of Her Majesty's Government the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897, which, inter alia, provided the legal basis for trans-frontier grazing rights, should be regarded as remaining in force as between Ethiopia and the successor State, following the termination of the Protectorate; but that the main provisions of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1954, which accorded the Protectorate certain facilities and powers concerning the exercise of these grazing rights, would lapse. My right honourable friend reminded the Somaliland delegation of the importance of this grazing to their economy and he suggested that it would be desirable to enter into very early discussions with the Ethiopian Government on this and other matters of common interest to both countries. The Somaliland delegation, after considering the whole matter most carefully, informed my right honourable friend that they wished to begin discussions with the Ethiopian authorities at an early 292 date. My right honourable friend welcomed this.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I should like to ask my noble friend two questions. First, having regard to the fact that the 1954 Agreement was directly connected with the 1897 Treaty, and that most of it provided for rights and privileges to be given to the tribes and their authorities, police and so on, and that only a small part of it referred to the presence of British liaison officers, can he say why this Agreement is believed to have lapsed at all? Can he give us some explanation of that? Secondly, if it is held to have lapsed, can my noble friend say whether Her Majesty's Representative in Addis Ababa will be given instructions to give the fullest possible support to the Somali representatives in negotiating a new Agreement—because I am sure he will have in mind what great distress and anxiety the original Agreement caused among the tribes.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, as regards the first question, the point really is this. The 1954 Agreement depends upon the British presence in British Somaliland, and it is for that reason that Article III—which is the Article to which the noble Lord referred—should not be operative without the British presence. However, the Treaty of 1897 to which the noble Lord referred, does remain valid as an international Treaty. The 1954 Agreement is simply a piece of mechanics which implements the legal rights that exist under the 1897 Agreement. But the machinery depends upon the British presence, and the British presence will no longer be there.
As regards the second question, this, as I am sure noble Lords will appreciate, is a matter for the Somalis and the Ethiopians, and it is not a matter in which Her Majesty's Government can properly interfere. We have given the advice which I mentioned in my original Answer, and that advice was that they should discuss these problems with the Ethiopians; and so far as we understand they have done so.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for his answer, but surely it would be right for our diplomatic representative to help these Somali representatives—who are, after all, still British-protected persons—in these very 293 difficult negotiations which they are undertaking with the Ethiopian Government.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, I do not think the question of right or wrong comes into this. What I think the noble Lord has asked me about is the situation which will arise when British Somaliland has achieved, at her own request, independence. It is then surely for the sovereign State of Somaliland to work out these details with her neighbour, Ethiopia. In so far as we have been able, we have counselled them to discuss this matter with the Ethiopian authorities, and we understand that they have done so.