§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what investigations have been made in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Independent States on the detention of members of the British Forces in the Soviet Union after(a) the Second World War and (b) the Korean War; and if he will make a statement. [156772]
§ Dr. MoonieI have been asked to reply.
Advantage was taken of the changed climate at the end of the Cold War to liaise with the Russian authorities on whether they possessed information on the few British Service men whose fate as prisoners of war remains unknown following the Second World War and Korean War, in spite of extensive investigation.
300W
Class reference1 HC no. Cmd no.22 Departments Date laid I 182 DFEE 31 January 2001 I 189 Teachers Pension Scheme 31 January 2001 I 155 Ofsted 25 January 2001 II 188 NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales) 31 January 2001 II 194 Department of Health 31 January 2001 III 5054 Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions 30 March 2001 III 176 Ofwat 31 January 2001 III 184 ORR 31 January 2001 IV 5055 Home Office 30 March 2001 IV 191 Charity Commission 31 January 2001 V 5056 Lord Chancellor's Department 30 March 2001 V 5060 Treasury Solicitors 30 March 2001 V 193 Crown Prosecution Service 31 January 2001 V 134 Public Records Office 25 January 2001 V 198 Serious Fraud Office 31 January 2001 V 199 Northern Ireland Court Service 31 January 2001 VI 4 Armed Forces Pension Scheme—MOD 13 December 2000 VI 50 Defence—MOD Consolidated 31 January 2001 VII 195 FCO 31 January 2001 VIII 116 DfID 31 January 2001 VIII 187 DfID—Superannuation Pensions 31 January 2001 IX 11 DTI—Main 20 December 2000 IX 51 ECGD 20 December 2000 IX 24 Ofgem 20 December 2000 IX 75 OFT 31 January 2001 IX 151 Oftel 31 January 2001 IX 10 UK Atomic Energy Authority—DTI 20 December 2000 X 5057 MAFF 30 March 2001 X 196 Forestry Commission 31 January 2001 X 201 Forestry Commission Pension Scheme 31 January 2001 X 833 Intervention Board Executive Agency 9 November 2000 XI 181 DCMS 31 January 2001 XII 183 DSS 31 January 2001 XIII 186 Scotland Office 31 January 2001 This and further detailed research into allegations that British Service men were detained by the Soviet Union after the Second World War has revealed no evidence that the Soviet authorities had a policy of detaining British Service men. Equally, no evidence has been found that British prisoners of war were detained in Korea or elsewhere after the post-armistice repatriations at the end of the Korean War.