Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to make an announcement regarding resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory by Chagos islanders.

A twelve week public consultation ended on 27 October. Nearly 850 written responses were received from as far afield as Tanzania, Switzerland, Thailand, France, and of course the main Chagossian communities in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles. Officials are continuing their analysis of these, and the results of meetings held with Chagossians in their own communities, to allow a decision on a way ahead soon.