§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to protect from erosion the pensions of former colonial civil servants who served in Zimbabwe before independence.
§ Mrs. ChalkerResponsibility for the payment and protection of the pensions of former Zimbabwe—Southern Rhodesia—civil servants rests with the Government of Zimbabwe. Our obligation towards the pensions of former colonial officers is confined to those for whom the British Government acknowledge a special responsibility by virtue of their having been recruited by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for employment on expatriate terms in the central government of a colony. Zimbabwe pensioners do not come into this category. Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing colony from 1923; recruitment to its public service was made directly by that Government, and staff served on local, as opposed to expatriate, terms of service. There are large numbers of overseas pensioners whose pensions are being eroded in value by falling exchange rates and, indeed, many who receive no payment at all. I could not justify helping Zimbabwe pensioners in isolation, and the financial consequences of assisting all overseas pensioners who face such problems would be prohibitive.
Agency Date Aircraft Tonnage Destination ODA 25 April 1 x Boeing 707 37.3 Incerlik, Turkey ODA 26 April 1 x Boeing 707 23.8 Incerlik, Turkey ODA 27 April 1 x Boeing 707 27.5 Incerlik, Turkey ODA 28 April 1 x Boeing 707 28.7 Incerlik, Turkey ODA 28 April 1 x Boeing 707 25.9 Orumiyeh, Iran ODA 29 April 1 x Boeing 707 32.4 Orumiyeh, Iran ODA 30 April 1 x Boeing 707 32.4 Orumiyeh, Iran