§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many serious offences were allegedly committed in 1988 by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and how many foreign diplomats were withdrawn from their posts in Britain in that year as a result of alleged offences.
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§ Mr. EggarForty-four alleged serious offences by persons entitled to immunity were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1988. "Serious offences" are defined in accordance with the report to the Foreign Affairs Committee "The abuse of diplomatic immunities and privileges (1985)" as offences falling into a category which could in certain circumstances attract a penalty of six months or more; we are advised that very few of the alleged offences would have been likely to attract a custodial sentence. The majority involved drinking and driving and shoplifting.
Fourteen diplomats were withdrawn from their posts in Britain in 1988 following alleged offences.
§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the number of unpaid parking fines incurred by each diplomatic mission in London during 1988.
§ Mr. EggarThe information is given in the table. The table also includes those international organisations which have incurred unpaid fines. The figures may be reduced by late payment.
The total for 1988 (10,079) indicates a 30 per cent. reduction over the total 1987 figure (14,437) and is only 9 per cent. of the 1984 figure (108,845) the last to be published before the introduction in May 1985 of the Government's policy on parking by members of diplomatic missions in May 1985.
We welcome the further reduction in unpaid parking fines that has been achieved during 1988 and appreciate the co-operation of diplomatic missions since the introduction of the parking policy. We shall continue to monitor carefully the level of unpaid fines, and bring pressure to bear on diplomatic missions to reduce this still further.
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Unpaid parking fines 1988 1987 Egypt 668 799 Soviet Union 656 622 Saudi Arabia 357 382 Poland 340 329 Cameroon 311 159 Spain 310 435 Cote d'lvoire 300 138 Sudan 286 236 Brunei 281 127 Iraq 274 424 Greece 259 258 Malaysia 237 329 Pakistan 228 394 Qatar 228 413 Turkey 201 254 Israel 195 216 Thailand 188 246 Morocco 182 263 Korea 175 149 China 167 551 Tunisia 158 166 Sierra Leone 157 189 Zaire 141 150 Germany (Federal Republic) 123 130 United Arab Emirates 122 358 France 112 513 Japan 110 153 Portugal 109 170 Ghana 105 205 Venezuela 105 116 Brazil 120 149 Germany (Democratic Republic) 91 185 Algeria 88 172 Bulgaria 88 80 103W
1988 1987 Yugoslavia 88 104 Jordan 87 165 Ethiopia 80 82 India 79 207 Bangladesh 77 71 Peru 75 155 Cyprus 72 96 Norway 72 60 Kuwait 70 186 Italy 69 302 Canada 66 130 Liberia 61 70 Finland 59 82 Senegal 58 43 Tanzania 58 48 Romania 54 59 Barbados 50 172 Sweden 50 58 Ecuador 49 24 Belgium 45 57 Zambia 45 60 Hungary 44 53 Nigeria 44 251 PDR Yemen 44 53 Fiji 43 40 Ireland 43 74 Cuba 41 26 Jamaica 41 68 Kenya 40 138 Indonesia 38 65 Uruguay 38 55 Burma 37 88 Angola 36 0 Somalia 36 41 Czechoslovakia 35 38 Lebanon 35 41 Zimbabwe 34 223 Iran 33 183 Mauritius 32 25 Uganda 32 41 Gabon 31 78 Paraguay 31 33 Nicaragua 29 10 Yemen Arab Republic 29 44 Gambia 28 27 Guyana 27 42 Oman 26 295 Philippines 26 45 Malawi 22 6 United States of America 22 77 Honduras 16 16 Iceland 16 51 Trinidad 16 31 Dominica 14 2 Panama 12 22 Lesotho 11 19 Togo 11 18 Colombia 10 23 Mexico 10 35 Afghanistan 9 8 Seychelles 9 10 Guatemala 8 0 Netherlands 8 6 Antigua and Barbuda 6 13 Austria 6 12 Chile 6 76 Vietnam 6 4 Bolivia 5 5 Botswana 5 29 Eastern Caribbean 5 8 Nepal 5 10 Sri Lanka 5 8 Mongolia 4 I Luxembourg 3 2 Switzerland 3 0 Bahamas 2 7 Denmark 2 5 E1 Salvador 2 0
1988 1987 Singapore 2 2 Papua New Guinea 1 3 Australia 0 0 Bahrain 0 6 Belize 0 0 Costa Rica 0 20 Grenada 0 0 Holy See 0 0 Malta 0 0 Mozambique 0 0 New Zealand 0 0 South Africa 0 19 Swaziland 0 5 Tonga 0 0 International Organisations Commonwealth Secretariat 21 75 Cocoa 13 7 WEU 10 15 IMO 1 13 EEC 1 0 UN 0 0 Coffee 0 0 Immarsat 0 0 Sugar 0 0 Totals 10,079 14,437