Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 24 November (HL3241), how the proportion of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots employed at the Cyprus Sovereign Base areas in 2017 compares with the proportion of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the 2011 censuses; and what assessment they have made of how they have fulfilled their obligations under Paragraph 2 of Section 7 of Part II of Annex B of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment to have regard as far as possible to the proportionate numbers of the Communities in Cyprus.

The 2011 censuses indicate that the proportion of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus was 83 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. The proportion of Greek and Turkish Cypriots employed in the Sovereign Base Areas in 2017, is approximately 0.12 per cent and 0.08 per cent of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations as identified in the 2011 censuses.

The proportion of Greek and Turkish Cypriot nationals employed by the Sovereign Base Area Administration (SBAA) and British Forces Cyprus in the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) are 88 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. The SBAA has reviewed the balance of its employment and concluded that it is compliant with Annex B, Part II, Section 7, Para 2 under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment. Our compliance will continue to be kept under review.

Details of the Cypriot contractors employed in the SBAs are held by private contractors, who have no obligation to provide us with this information. Contractors work for a variety of employers across the island and there is no certainty of when their staff are working in the SBAs as opposed to under other contractual obligations they have elsewhere on the island. For private contractors, therefore, the information is not held in the format requested.