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Non-British Commonwealth Armed Forces

Volume 448: debated on Wednesday 12 July 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-British Commonwealth citizens are serving in the armed forces, broken down by country of origin. (83425)

The number of non-British Commonwealth citizens serving in the UK Regular Armed Forces at 1 April 2006, broken down by country of origin, are shown in the following table:

UK Regular Forces1 with Commonwealth nationality other than British at 1 April 2006

Country

Naval Service

Army

Royal Air Force2

Total non-British Commonwealth Service personnel

395

6,410

125

Antigua and Barbuda

3

4

3

Australia

10

75

10

Bangladesh

4

5

3

Barbados

4

10

4

Belize

3

4

3

Botswana

3

5

3

Cameroon

3

20

3

Canada

15

60

20

Cyprus

4

4

3

Dominica

4

10

3

Fiji Islands

75

1,995

5

The Gambia

4

80

4

Ghana

4

660

4

Grenada

4

50

3

Guyana

3

15

3

India

5

45

4

Jamaica

25

975

25

Kenya

5

105

5

Malawi

4

95

4

Malaysia

4

5

4

Malta

4

5

4

Mauritius

4

25

4

Namibia

3

4

3

New Zealand

5

65

5

Nigeria

4

65

3

Pakistan

4

10

4

Papua New Guinea

3

4

3

Seychelles

3

10

3

Sierra Leone

3

45

3

Singapore

3

4

3

South Africa

45

720

10

Sri Lanka

3

15

4

St. Kitts and Nevis

3

4

4

St. Lucia

5

225

4

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

130

280

4

Swaziland

3

10

3

Tanzania

3

4

3

Tonga

3

5

3

Trinidad and Tobago

20

70

10

Uganda

3

40

3

Zambia

4

20

3

Zimbabwe5

15

565

5

Other West Indies6

4

4

3

Other non-British Commonwealth7

3

15

3

1 Data are for UK Regular Forces (trained and untrained), including Nursing Services and excluding full-time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists.

2 Royal Air Force data are for personnel serving at 6 March 2006. They include personnel who at that date had attested but have not begun basic training.

3 Denotes zero or rounded to zero.

4 Denotes fewer than five.

5 Includes personnel with nationality recorded as Rhodesian.

6 Includes personnel with nationality recorded as West Indian, but with no country specified.

7 Includes personnel with nationality recorded as British Commonwealth/Foreign.

Note:

Data are rounded to the nearest five to prevent disclosure of sensitive information.