§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have any information about whether any of the Diego Garcians living in Mauritius have expressed a wish to return to the island at the expiry of the United States 50-year lease of the island.
§ Mr. RifkindThere have been various reports that some of those previously employed on the plantations on Diego Garcia would prefer to return to the island. There is, however, no possibility of their doing so in the foreseeable future, as is recognised in the terms of the 1982 Ilois Agreement (Cmnd. 8785), with which the Ilois community is fully associated. The island has not been leased to the United States.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the regulations which govern the admission of visitors to Diego Garcia.
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§ Mr. RifkindThe conditions of access are set out in paragraph 1(4) of the Diego Garcia Agreement 1976 (Cmnd. 6413).
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will be issuing any response to demands made by the non-aligned summit meeting in Delhi that Diego Garcia be declared a zone of peace.
§ Mr. HurdDiego Garcia was not specifically mentioned in the section of the non-aligned movements declaration which dealt with a zone of peace.
We shall continue to discuss the question of an Indian ocean zone of peace in the United Nations ad hoc committee. We are seeking a balanced and realistic mandate for a conference which would include a wide geographical area, including the hinterland states and in particular Afghanistan.
In another section the declaration supports the claim of Mauritius to sovereignty over Diego Garcia, disregarding the fact that the islands of the Chagos archipelago have been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason Father Alain Harel was allowed to visit Diego Garcia.
§ Mr. RifkindIn conformity with the conditions of access set out in paragraph 1(4) of the Diego Garcia Agreement 1976 (Cmnd. 6413), Father Alain Harel, who is a creole speaker, was allowed to visit Diego Garcia over Christmas to minister to the spiritual needs of the Catholic Mauritian contract workers who are currently employed on construction projects.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been received about Diego Garcia from the Government of Mauritius.
§ Mr. RifkindWe have had no recent representations specifically about Diego Garcia, but we are in regular contact with the government of Mauritius and have discussed Diego Garcia on a number of occasions within the general context of our bilateral relations.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to preserve the accommodation of the Diego Garcians, with a view to returning it to the islanders at the expiry of the lease of the island.
§ Mr. RifkindAll accommodation on Diego Garcia prior to the establishment of the naval support facility belonged to a private company, subsequently acquired by the Crown, which operated the island's copra plantations. With the closure of the plantations there was no further need to maintain such accommodation.