Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
46
Mr E C Anyaolu
Deputy Secretary-General Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House LONDON SW 1
Der Mr Anyaoku,
25 July 1979
HKG.025/4
25 JUL 1979
No 818 11ys
PROPOSED SEMINAR ON THE FUTURE OF BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORI ES
Over the past 35 years or so, successive British Governments have been steadily giving effect to our commitment under the United Nations Charter to allow colonial territories their right to self- determination. More than 30 territories which were British colonies in 1945 are now fully independent members of the international community. Today, only a dozen or so small territories remain, and none fits easily into the standard mould of a modern state.
To help consider what options for the future might be open to such territories, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are planning, in conjunction with the Institute of Development Studies, to hold a seminar at the Institute's headquarters at Falmer, Brighton, from 24 to 26 September this year. The theme of the seminar will be the future of Britain's remaining Dependent Territories. The seminar will not, however, consider the future of Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Belize and the Falkland Islands, all of which are subject to special political considerations outside the scope of a meeting of this sort.
The seminar will bring together those in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Overseas Development Administration who are responsible for coordinating the administration of the Dependent Territories with people from the universities and elsewhere who are, or have been, concerned with Dependencies or other small island states. Apart from discussing the current policies and possible alternatives to them, we plan to consider such subjects as the special problems of small island states and the political and economic systems that are most appropriate to societies of this type.
In view of the close interest the Commonwealth Secretariat has taken in the problems of small states, we would welcome a representative at the seminar. We are hoping to have about 20 to 25 participants, about one-third of whom will be from the official side. The exact programme has not yet been finalised, but our present plan is to assemble on the afternoon of Monday, 24 September, and launch the seminar after dinner that evening with a paper describing the
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