Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next planned visit of Chagossians to Diego Garcia will take place; how many Chagossians will be able to take part in that visit; what the transport arrangements for that visit are; and if he will make a statement.

The next visit of Chagossians to Diego Garcia and the Outer Islands will take place from 30 October to 8 November. A programme of events on the island is being arranged. Those visitors who were born in either Peros Banhos or Salomon will spend two days visiting those groups of islands before rejoining the other group members on Diego Garcia.

We expect a further two visits to take place before April 2018. Each visit will accommodate twenty Chagossians, who will arrive into Diego Garcia by air and will return by the same route at the end of the visit.