The UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee’s Sub-Committee on Overseas Territories issues a call for evidence on the UK Government’s engagement regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
- Inquiry: The UK Government’s engagement regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory
- Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on the Overseas Territories
- Foreign Affairs Committee
This call for evidence will help inform the Sub-Committee’s first public evidence session, which will focus on BIOT.
The Sub-Committee would also like to hear evidence on the UK Government’s engagement with the Chagossian diaspora, as well as the spending of the funds allocated by the Government to support the Chagossian community. In addition to this, the Sub-Committee would like to hear evidence on the possible consequences of the UK Government’s failure to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution with Mauritius over sovereignty. The call for evidence also covers the current and future strategic importance of BIOT, as well as the Territory’s environmental importance.
The deadline for written evidence is 29 January 2024.
The Sub-Committee welcomes written evidence on the following
- The current strategic importance of the British Indian Ocean Territory and its likely importance into the future.
- The extent to which the UK Government has engaged with the Chagossian communities in the UK and around the world as it considers the future of the territory.
- The spending of the funds allocated to support of the Chagossian community.
- The environmental importance of the British Indian Ocean Territory both now and in the future.
- The likely consequences of the UK Government’s failure to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution with Mauritius over sovereignty.
Each submission should be no longer than 3,000 words and contain a brief introduction about the author. Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour, logos or photos. Further guidance is available on our Written Evidence Guidance.