foreign & Commonwealth Office Diplomatic Wing
To encourage international cooperation against terrorism and to protect British citizens
and British interests
overseas
To safeguard UK interests
on migration through
international action. To
provide humanitarian
support for genuine refugees while tackling
problems of irregular
economic migration
Objective
Means
Presence of drug liaison officers at certain Posts overseas.
To work with other governments to deny support to terrorist groups and to use multilateral fora (eg UN, EC, G7) to co-ordinate the campaign against terrorism
Development of Western and global consensus on the problems and remedies
Achieving the safe and orderly return from Hong Kong of screened-out Vietnamese migrants, in accordance with the plan adopted by the Second
The FCO pays HMG's subscriptions to international organisations through which its foreign policy aims are pursued. The FCO also meets the growing cost of the UK contributions to international peacekeeping. The small FCO-funded programmes of scholarships and military training are tightly linked to the pursuit of foreign policy aims. All these are found on Vote 2 (see paras 29-31 of the Report).
Dependent Territories
82 Dependent Territories (14) and Dependencies (2)
remain under the Crown. Overall responsibility for their administration, as well as direct responsibility for their external relations, rests with the Secretary of State. These responsibilities represent an important element in the work of the FCO; one of the two basic aims of Britain's foreign policy (see para 1.1.) is to enhance *...the security and prosperity of the United Kingdom and the Dependent Territories”. Economically they range from Bermuda and Cayman - with standards of living higher than the UK - to Pitcairn and St Helena, where economic development poses daunting challenges. Their constitutional arrangements vary greatly and are reviewed regularly.
8.3 The FCO aims to provide these Territories with
security and political stability, and to ensure that local governments provide efficient and honest government. The Department aims to achieve economic and social development at the very least on a par with those found in comparable neighbouring countries within their regions. With regard to independence, the British Government has made it clear that, subject to any treaty obligations, such as those applying to Hong Kong (which will revert to Chinese sovereignty in 1997) and Gibraltar, they will
14
Objective
Means
Achievement of
International Conference on Indo- Chinese Refugees in 1989
Cooperation with the UNHCR
and other international bodies
Playing a leading role in UNCED
environmental agenda for follow-up work at the UN and
the next decade in line with UK interests; follow
up of the UNCED
agreements, including institutional arrangements -establishment of the UN Sustainable Development
Commission
elsewhere; participating actively in international negotiating committees on Climate Change and Biodiversity; and lobbying key countries to direct their policies and resources towards sustainable development which safeguards the interests of both present and future generations
help those Dependent Territories to independence when and if it is the clearly and constitutionally expressed wish of the people.
8.4 The reasonable needs of the Dependent Territories
are a first call on the Aid budget and they receive considerably more per capita than independent countries. St Helena still receives support for recurrent expenditure; it and four Caribbean Dependent Territories receive technical co-operation and capital aid on grant terms.
8.5 A Departmental review of policy and management for
the Caribbean Dependent Territories completed in 1992 concluded that our policy should be to continue to help the four aid-receiving Territories to achieve economic development as well as high standards of governance. The Department subsequently established a Ministerial Board of Management for the Territories, chaired by the responsible FCO Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, and attended by Ministers or their representatives from other departments or agencies, to co-ordinate existing and future activities in the Dependent Territories. The Department is establishing a Regional Secretariat for the Caribbean Dependent Territories in Bridgetown, Barbados, to co-ordinate the implementation of British Government policy and to manage Aid and Diplomatic Wing funds in the Caribbean Dependent Territories.
Good Government
8.6 Promoting good government is a task for British diplomacy as well as for the aid programme. Governments should apply competent economic policies, and should be accountable to the people. This is best achieved through pluralist political
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