The senior officers of the SBAs on Cyprus either had no time to answer our letters; or, more likely, were ordered by their political superiors to stay out of the firing line. This is standard behaviour when sensitive civil matters are on the agenda. Their response was delegated to the responsible civil servant in the SBA Administration.

The senior Commander on Cyprus, who is also head of the civil administration of the SBAs, must acknowledge a personal stake in solving the problem. Without his active support, the combatting of these criminal acts is unlikely to be given the attention, priority and resource allocation it deserves.

Here is a new draft text for Air-Vice Marshal Bill Rimmer:

[Mails can be 'filtered out' by title if the recipient(s) are being snowed under. Vary the title in the subject box if you have time - and a vivid imagination!]

MAIL TO AVM RIMMER

DRAFT TEXT - PLEASE MODIFY IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR LANGUAGE
NOTE THE ALTERNATIVE TEXTS IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH!

[some people have complained of mails to the SBAA being rejected. SBAA is served by 'Spidernet' which has a _heavy_ spam filter. It rejects mails for example with no proper name in the sender address; or with no title in the subject line; or with certain phrases like in the Proact motto '.....before it's too late."!]

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Mailing Methods

ILLEGAL TRAPPING OF BIRDS IN THE SOVEREIGN BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS


Commander British Forces Cyprus and Administrator SBAs
Air Vice-Marshal Bill Rimmer RAF



Dear Air-Vice Marshal,


In December you received a number of letters expressing our concerns over the illegal trapping of birds, mainly protected European migrants, with lime sticks and nets within the boundaries of the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) on Cyprus. It was disappointing not to receive a direct reply.

You are undoubtedly as concerned as we are over this sad situation, which stands little chance of being solved until interest is taken at a high level with priorities being set; and a considerable amount of time, planning and physical effort invested. It is surely worth it.

It is good to hear that the SBA police have made a big effort recently. In the past they have also intervened; but seldom in a sustained manner. The netting and liming problem now requires concerted and consistent, not sporadic, action. Detailed coordination with the responsible Cypriot authorities is essential - now! If the effort is put in before the return migration starts; and maintained throughout its duration,

Letters are again being sent to ministers in London. Without their full support and encouragement the problem is unlikely to receive the full priority and resource allocation that it needs and deserves.

We hope that you will now find time to at least personally acknowledge our concerns; and hopefully also to give us assurances that the matter is being given your full attention.

yours sincerely,


[Name and Address - essential!]

FCO Complaints Page

Secretary of State for Defence
Rt Hon Geoffrey Hoon MP
Ministry of Defence
Main Building
Whitehall,
London SW1A 2EU
United Kingdom

e-mail: public@ministers.mod.uk

[Note: A full address is essential if you expect a reply - and we DO want them to reply!

"If you wish to write to any of the Government's Defence Ministers about aspects of defence policy or the Armed Forces, please use the address given above. Please note that we cannot reply by e-mail. You must include on your letter a return postal address."]

... and please copy to:

This helps us, at Proact and on Cyprus, to monitor the scope of the campaign and increase our effectiveness in future.

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