Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 14886, on participation of Chagossians in scientific and conservation work in the British Indian Ocean Territory, whether this was before or after the 2015 FCO consultation; and in which years the visits took place.

Seven people of Chagossian heritage visited the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), prior to the start of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s BIOT Resettlement Policy Review consultation in 2015. One of these people visited as part of a science expedition in 2012, the other six visited as part of the Connect Chagos project, one in 2012, one in 2013, one in 2014 and three in 2015. One further person of Chagossian heritage visited BIOT as part of the Connect Chagos project in 2016, after the consultation had ended.