§ 59. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what commitments Her Majesty's Government have undertaken in respect of the suppression of slave-trading to and from Saudi Arabia; if he has studied documents sent to him on this matter; and, in the light of information therein supplied, what action Her Majesty's Government is taking either through the United Nations or otherwise to deal with this evil.
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§ Lord John HopeThe United Kingdom is a party to the International Slavery Convention of 1926, by which Her Majesty's Government have undertaken in respect of all territories for whose international relations they are responsible, to prevent and suppress the slave trade. The United Kingdom is also a party to the Brussels Act of 2nd July, 1890, under which Her Majesty's Government have an obligation to suppress the slave trade on the High Seas in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
I assume that the document to which the hon. Member refers is the dispatch written by the French Ambassador in Jedda two and a half years ago and subsequently published. I am afraid there is no doubt but that this trade is still going on but, as the document clearly shows, it is extremely difficult to stop from the outside. Nevertheless in fulfilment of our obligations, the Trucial Oman Scouts carry out interception patrols on the slave trade by land; and in the Persian Gulf patrols are carried out by the Royal Navy. In the Red Sea Her Majesty's ships on passage have instructions to search suspected slavers. Her Majesty's Government are also continuing to deal with the general problem of the slave trade through the United Nations, as was stated in the reply of my right hon. Friend the Minister of State of 18th April.