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Written question asked by Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Triesman (Labour) on Monday, 5 June 2006.

Embassies

Question
Which British embassies were closed in 2004; 2005; and 2006 to date.
Answer

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) continues to realign its resources flexibly in line with UK interests. The FCO closed two embassies in 2004, and two embassies and four high commissions in 2005. One high commission has been closed to date in 2006. Operations in our embassy in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire have remained suspended since 1 April 2005. This is due to the uncertain security situation there. The following table sets out these details.

Year British Embassy/High Commission Closed
2004 Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Managua, Nicaragua
2005 Nassau*, Bahamas
Asuncion, Paraguay
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Maseru*, Lesotho
Mbabane*, Swaziland
Port Vila*, Vanuatu
2006 Nuku’alofa*, Tonga
*   Denotes High Commissions

All the missions closed during 2005 and 2006 were implemented as part of the changes to the UK’s overseas diplomatic network, as announced by my right honourable friend the then Foreign Secretary (Jack Straw) in a Written Ministerial Statement published on 15 December 2004 (Official Report, House of Commons, cols. 137-40WS).

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
5894; 682 c146-7WA
Session
2005-06
Related items
Subjects
Closures Embassies
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk