HC Deb 15 October 2003 vol 411 cc270-1W
Angus Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens are residing in Sri Lanka. [131834]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

There are currently 856 British Citizens and their families registered with the British High Commission in Colombo as resident in Sri Lanka.

Angus Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans were implemented by his Department since 1997 to resolve the conflict in Sri Lanka through negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; and if he will make a statement. [131889]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

We support the Sri Lankan peace process both politically and practically, and welcome the remarkable progress that has been made since February 2002 when the current ceasefire came into effect.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, DFID and MOD work together to promote peace under a "Peace Building and Reconciliation Strategy", which aims to strengthen the incentives for peace and reconciliation through an integrated programme of activities by all three departments. Funding for this strategy is in part provided from the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (jointly administered by FCO/DFID/MOD).

While we do not have a formal role in the peace process, we are working with the Tokyo Donors' Conference co-chairs Japan, Norway, EU and US) to implement the conference's recommendations. The peace process is first and foremost an internal affair for the Sri Lankan people to resolve. We hope that the LTTE will shortly be tabling proposals that will enable all parties to return to the negotiating table.

Angus Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when representatives of his Department raised the conflict in Sri Lanka in(a) the EU Council of Ministers and (b) the United Nations since 1997; what the outcome of discussions was; and if he will make a statement. [131890]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

At the November 2002 meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC—the foreign affairs sub-council of the EU Council), the Council reiterated its support for the Sri Lankan peace process and said that any EU engagement would be closely co-ordinated with other international efforts. In June, the EU co-chaired the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development in Sri Lanka.

Foreign and Commonwealth Officials meet regularly with the Heads of the UN agencies and their representatives. Most recently the Head of DFID Colombo met with the UN Acting Resident Co-ordinator on 6 October in Colombo.