§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds 21 Rhodesian African refugee's in Botswana have been denied protection by the British High Commissioner before being handed over to the police of the illegitimate administration of Rhodesia.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIAN)My Lords, as my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said in another place on July 8, the Botswana authorities found no grounds for treating the men as political refugees and gave them notice to leave Botswana. Nineteen of the men applied at the British High Commission in Gaborone for political asylum in the United Kingdom, but failed to make out a case. The men were not handed over to the police in Rhodesia.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, while thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask him, first, whether Botswana is not in a difficult position geographically because of its dependence on South Africa? Secondly, is there not another issue here? Is it not the case that the Geneva Agreement applying to refugees requires that a refugee should be helped if in the country of his origin 1206 he is liable to persecution? In this case, they being British subjects, there would be no persecution in this country, and we should have no control over the persecution in Rhodesia.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, in reply to the noble Lords' first supplementary question, I take his point about the geographical situation of Botswana, but I do not think that in this case it would affect the consideration. It is also perfectly true that the acceptance or non-acceptance of political refugees depends upon whether they are in danger of persecution in the country of origin. Each one of these cases was looked into carefully by the British High Commission, and this took a considerable time. Our advice, as a result of this careful consideration, was that the 19 men referred to did not make out a case for acceptance as political refugees.
§ LORD WYNNE-JONESMy Lords, does the noble Marquess suggest that the Government regard Rhodesia, at one and the same time, as a friendly State and a rebel State?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I think that is a very different question. All I am trying to answer is whether or not these men made out a case for political asylum. Neither the Botswana authorities, nor the British High Commission in Gaborone afterwards, felt that they had.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, the noble Marquess referred to "nineteen of the men". What about the other two: did they make out a case as being political refugees? Would Her Majesty's Government look at this loophole in the Geneva Agreement which applies to the exceptional situation in Rhodesia, and see whether that loophole can be filled?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I will certainly take note of what the noble Lord has said in that regard. I am afraid that I have no information about the other two men. The 19, of course, were the 19 who approached the British High Commission.