Apr. 03 2024
Source Page: St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha: Knowledge Base profileFound: St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha: Knowledge Base profile
Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories studentsFound: OTE0010 - The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories students St Helena Chamber
Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories studentsFound: OTE0007 - The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories students St Helena Legislative
Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories studentsFound: OTE0012 - The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories students St Helena Government
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with the St Helena Government on steps to return the remains of formerly enslaved people from St Helena to their ancestral homes.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Approximately 8000 former slaves died after being taken to St Helena by the Royal Navy's West African Squadron trying to halt the slave trade in the mid-nineteenth century; their ancestral homes are not known. 325 Skeletons were unearthed during the construction of St Helena Airport and the UK Government provided support for their reburial on 21 August 2022. St Helena Government plans to create a memorial and interpretation centre to honour those who died.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK–St Helena development partnership summary, published in July 2023, whether he has taken recent steps to support tourism in St Helena.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government works closely with St Helena's leadership to support tourism development and funded the construction of St Helena Airport to improve access to the Island. The UK Government provides significant financial aid to St Helena (up to £34.06 million in 2024/25). This includes support for the delivery of public services, the airport and £500,000 of ringfenced funding for tourism development, with the same level of tourism support also provided in 2023/24. In addition, up to £30 million is being provided between 2019-28 for long-term capital infrastructure development.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Hornsey (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure the ethical treatment of human remains in Rupert's Valley on St Helena and to protect and preserve the burial ground against present and future adverse development.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The St Helena Government is responsible for the protection and preservation of the burial grounds in Rupert's Valley. Human remains unearthed during preparatory work for St Helena Airport were reburied on 21 August 2022 on ground designated as a cemetery under St Helena's Burial Grounds Ordinance, ensuring it is now a protected site.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Hornsey (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many scientific or archaeological research studies have been conducted since 2008 on ancestral human remains to determine the origins of the enslaved people on the island of St Helena.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Approximately 8000 former slaves are buried on St Helena and died after being taken to the island by the Royal Navy's West African Squadron trying to halt the slave trade in the mid-nineteenth century. Their precise origins are unknown. Archaeological research was conducted on human remains unearthed in 2008 during preparatory work for St Helena Airport and a further two studies were subsequently completed. Research conducted concluded that some of the individuals likely originated from the Central Africa region.
Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories studentsFound: OTE0013 - The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories students St Helena Government
Asked by: Baroness Young of Hornsey (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans there are to create a memorial and interpretation centre on St Helena to honour those whose remains were buried in Rupert's Valley; what is the timescale for those plans; and how will the cost be covered.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Plans for an interpretation centre and a memorial are set out in a Master Plan created by St Helena's Liberated African Advisory Committee (LAAC). An interpretation centre is planned under Phase Two to raise awareness of the role St Helena played in the slave trade and its abolition. A memorial monument is planned under Phase Three to remember the former slaves buried in Rupert's Valley. The LAAC is in the process of publicly raising funds for the centre and memorial so the timescale for the completion of these projects is not yet known.