§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the position of the British Antarctic Survey's establishment in Grytviken and Bird Island in South Georgia; and how many staff are employed on each site.
§ Mr. RifkindAll British Antarctic Survey personnel were safely withdrawn from South Georgia in May 1982. A party recently visited Grytviken to inspect the condition of the base with a view to resuming scientific activities there. Its report is awaited. Two scientists returned to Bird Island in September.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current state of the following locations of the British Antarctic Survey: Signy, Faraday, Rothera and Halley; how many staff are engaged at each site; and whether there has been any evidence of intervention by the Argentine Government.
§ Mr. RifkindThere has been no evidence of intervention by the Argentine Government at any of the British Antarctic Survey stations in the Antarctic treaty area. All the scientific stations continue their normal research programmes. There are 13 British nationals at Signy, 10 at Faraday, 13 at Rothera and 19 at Halley.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the population by nationality of those people occupying sites in the British Antarctic territory; and if he will list the sites from which scientific or other surveys are being conducted.
§ Mr. RifkindAccording to the latest—1981–82—exchange of information required under article VII paragraph 5 of the Antarctic treaty, the population by nationality of persons occupying sites in the British Antarctic territory are:
British 58 Argentina *158 Chile 51 Poland 9 USSR 29 USA 34 * 187 including dependents
The sites in the British Antarctic territory from which scientific surveys are being conducted are:
United Kingdom Bases: Rothera, Faraday, Halley, Signy;157WArgentine Bases: General Belgrano II, General Belgrano III, Almirante Brown, Esperanza, Vice Comodoro Marambia, Teniente Matinenzo, Orcadas, General San Martin, Jubany;Chilean Bases: Teniente Rodolfo March, Bernardo O'Higgin, Arturo Prat;Polish Bases: Arctowski Station;USA Bases: Palmer Station;USSR Bases: Bellinghausen;Other sites not in British Antarctic territory from which scientific surveys are being carried out:Australian Bases: Mawson, Davis, Casey;FRG Bases: Georg-von-Neumayer Station, Filchner Station (summer only), Lillie-Marleen-Hutte (summer only);French Bases: Base Dumont d'Urville (Terre Adelie);Japanese Bases: Syowa Mizuho;New Zealand Bases: Scott Base, Vanda Station (summer only);Norwegian Bases: Maudheim;South Africn Bases: Sanae;Soviet Union Bases: Russkaya, Vostok, Komsomolskaya, Mirny, Druzhnaya I, Druzhnaya II, Molodeshnaya, Leningradskaya, Novolazarevskaya;USA Bases: McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Siple Station, Byrd Surface Camp (summer only).Following the tragic loss of three British Antarctic Survey personnel from Faraday base in August, there are now 55 British nationals in bases in the British Antarctic Territory at Rothera, Faraday, Halley and Signy.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will give as detailed a breakdown as possible of the Argentine nationals at present at sites in the British Antarctic territory, including details of the functions of those involved; what is the purpose for which they are there; whether any military personnel are among them; and what controls Her Majesty's Government exercise over their access to the territory and their activity there.
§ Mr. RifkindThe latest breakdown of Argentine nationals at sites in British Antarctic territory is 132 military plus 55 civilians. This information has not changed since June 1982, when full details of names and function were supplied to my hon. Friend.
The Antarctic treaty is the only instrument of control in Antarctica. Under the Antarctic treaty it is required that all States occupying scientific stations in Antarctica, and conducting scientific investigations there, should on an "Exchange of Information" basis advise other States of their investigations and scientific data and give information as to their proposed programmes for the coming year, plus full details as to personnel employed on the station. This has so far been adhered to by all States with scientific stations in Antarctica.
In accordance with article II of the Antarctic treaty, Argentina, like other contracting parties, operates freely in Antarctica for purposes of scientifc investigation.