§ 54. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether a reply has yet been received from the Argentine Government to the note of protest handed to the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs on 4th February, following the incident at Hope Bay, Falkland Islands.
§ Mr. NuttingYes. Her Majesty's Embassy at Buenos Aires received a reply on 27th February. I have not yet received the full text but I understand that the Argentine Note, while re-asserting Argentine claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and the Dependencies, confirms that fresh instructions have been given to the Argentine commander. The Argentine Government say that they are making inquiries in order to decide whether further measures are required. But they have expressed their conviction that there will be no recurrence of the incident.
§ 57. Mr. Russellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of the violations of British territory in the Antarctic by the Argentine and Chile, together with the dates on which they occurred; and if he Will state whether any of the territory occupied has since been evacuated.
§ Mr. NuttingThe information required is contained in the documents already made available in response to a Question4W of 2nd July, 1951. I am sending the relevant extract from the OFFICIAL REPORT to my hon. Friend. Since then there has been the incident at Hope Bay about which I replied to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Hamilton Kerr) on 20th February.
I am not aware that any Argentine or Chilean posts in the Falkland Islands Dependencies have been evacuated.