Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to make extension of the 1966 UK-US Agreement on the British Indian Ocean Territory conditional on a commitment by both parties to support and facilitate resettlement of the Chagossians.

Sir Alan Duncan

The US presence on the island of Diego Garcia is governed by a series of agreements, called Exchanges of Notes, of which the overarching agreement sets out the whole Territory should be made available for UK and US defence purposes for an initial 50 year period of 1966 to 2016. If neither side object during a two year window of December 2014 to December 2016, the agreement will continue as it stands until end December 2036. The Government welcomes the US presence on Diego Garcia and we continue to discuss with the US Government their continued presence beyond 2016. We have consulted a range of stakeholders, including the US, as we work towards a decision on resettlement of BIOT. The Government is examining its policy closely and will announce developments to Parliament and the public in due course.