Madagascar (Hansard, 13 May 2002)

HC Deb 13 May 2002 vol 385 cc453-4W 453W

§ Mr. McNamara
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens are resident in Madagascar; and what relationships are established between Madagascar and the United Kingdom in the(a) economic, (b) political and (c) cultural fields. [55204]

§ Mr. MacShane
Our embassy in Antananarivo estimates that there are some 160 British citizens in Madagascar.
Bilateral links between Madagascar and the UK are strong. We have been working hard to maintain these, despite the difficult political and economic situation that has developed since the disputed presidential election in December 2001. We continue to support the efforts of the Organisation of African Unity to broker an agreement between the parties which will break the political impasse.
The UK supports a number of small scale projects in Madagascar, particularly in the area of penal reform, and a number of British environmental NGOs are active there. Cultural links are growing: the BBC World Service rebroadcasts locally on FM, and there is increasing interest in learning English.

§ Mr. McNamara
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the political agreement reached on 22 April by the rival presidential contenders in Madagascar; and what steps he will take to seek the investigation of human454W rights violations and the establishment of a permanent mechanism for the protection of human rights for all sections of the population. [55203]

§ Mr. MacShane
We welcomed the signature of the Dakar Accord by Marc Ravalomanana and Didier Ratsiraka on 18 April. We regret that the parties have not, since then, been able to take the necessary steps to break the political deadlock. We continue to believe that the Dakar Accord provides the best basis for a settlement, and therefore support President Wade of Senegal's initiative for a second round of talks in Dakar on 14–15 May.
We, with our EU partners, the US, the OAU and UN will continue to encourage the two parties to work together to find a peaceful solution to the impasse, including the need to respect the human rights of all the Malagasy people.