§ 11.17 a.m.
§ LORD SEGALMy 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 which Arab States are still allowed right of entry for their nationals into this country without the requirement of a visa.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, the nationals of Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait, Behrain and Qatar do not require visas to enter the United Kingdom.
§ LORD SEGALMy Lords, while thanking the noble Marquess for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that the recent attempted assassination of the Jordanian Ambassador in London was carried out by a national of Algeria? Is it not high time that this obvious loophole for terrorist activities was effectively sealed down before further outrages are committed?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, the position is, as the noble Lord is probably aware, that the West German Government have made the suggestion that the visa restrictions should apply to all Arab countries : and I understand that a meeting is taking place today in The Hague among officials of the Ten European countries, with a view to making recommendations on this matter which I hope will be considered early next week.
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, is the noble Marquess able to say, without further notice, how many nationals from such Arab States have sought to enter this country, say, since January 1, 1971 : and how many of them have been refused admission as being undesirable?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANNo, my Lords ; I am afraid I cannot say that without notice, but if the noble Lord wishes to put down a specific Question on the point I will try to obtain the information.
§ BARONESS GAITSKELLMy Lords, quite apart from the question of terrorism, may I ask why this privilege has been extended to the nationals of these countries?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I am not quite sure that I understand what the noble Baroness means about "this privilege".
§ BARONESS GAITSKELLMy Lords, why can they enter this country without a visa? I could not enter Canada from the United States of America some years ago without a passport.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, with four of the countries we have informal arrangements concerning entry, but as I have said the circumstances are such now that the whole position must obviously be looked at again ; and this is what we are doing.
§ LORD BARNBYMy Lords, arising out of the Minister's first reply, can he give the House any information with regard to any impediment imposed by any Arab States on emigration from their country, as is imposed on certain sections in Russia and East Germany? Secondly, can the noble Marquess give any indication as to what these applications are, in view of the fact that the migrations from Arab countries to Israel in the last few years were of the order of 700,000? Is it to be understood that there is now any impediment?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, my noble friend has widened the subject to some extent and, if he will allow me, I shall have to look up the figures for which he has asked. I am afraid that I do not have them with me at the moment.
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, can the noble Marquess say what is, broadly speaking, the reason for the apparent discrimination applied in the matter of visas as between the nationals of various Arab States?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I think this is something which for a very long time has been based on custom. As I have said, we are not happy with the situation and we are looking at it again.
§ LORD SEGALMy Lords, would the noble Marquess agree that it is far more important that the screening of Arab terrorist agents should be carried out before they leave their country of origin? Would not this have the added advantage of relieving the strain imposed on our immigration officials at the various points of entry?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I agree with the noble Lord in that respect, but I think one must also point out that no system of visa control is absolutely foolproof.
§ LORD SEGALMy Lords, could not simple directives be given to British officials in those countries that visas should be required of these nationals before they are allowed to enter this country?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I will certainly take note of what the noble Lord has said. I imagine that this is very much the sort of problem which is being discussed to-day.