§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Government of Mauritius concerning future sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. [146142]
§ Mr. BattleWe have received regular representations from the Government of Mauritius about the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The most recent have been from the Mauritian Foreign Minister this month.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to publish studies on the economic viability of the Chagos Islands; and if he will make a statement. [146141]
§ Mr. BattleThe Report of the Preliminary Study on the feasibility of re-settlement on the outer islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory was placed in the Libraries of Parliament in July 2000, and made available to others404W directly affected, such as the lawyers for the Applicant in the recent court proceedings and the Governments of Mauritius and the United States. We expect that the Reports of the further stages of study will be made available similarly when the work to be done by independent experts is completed.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what external legal advice he has received on the legal status of the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia in respect of rights of self-determination of its peoples. [146128]
§ Mr. BattleWe have not sought any external legal advice.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the budget for 2000–01 for the administration of the British Indian Ocean Territory is; and how many of the relevant officials are(a) United Kingdom based and (b) locally based. [146143]
§ Mr. BattleThe British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Appropriation Ordinance 2000 provided an expenditure in the financial year 2000–01 of £2,301,000. Of this sum £132,000 was provided for administration, with the bulk, £1,800,000, being provided for fisheries protection and related issues. Subsequent in-year revision of the estimates suggest that the total will be in the region of £2,050,000.
Revenue was originally estimated at £755,000. But revenue (from fisheries licences chiefly) has been better than predicted and it is now estimated that total revenue for the year will be nearer £1,500,000.
(a) Four FCO officials based in London work part-time for the BIOT Administration. Their staff costs are not currently borne by the BIOT Government. A further six part-time officials based in the UK, the Principal Legal Adviser and various judicial appointments, have their fees paid for by the BIOT Government.
(b) There are 22 military personnel based in the territory who are appointed officials of the BIOT Administration in addition to their Service functions, primarily in policing, customs and similar services. Their staff costs are not currently paid for by the BIOT Government.
In addition, a Senior Fisheries Protection Officer and a number of crew from the Fisheries Protection Vessel who are, from time to time, appointed as Fisheries Protection Officers are paid for either directly or indirectly by the BIOT Government.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for Chagos Islanders to visit the islands since the recent court ruling or the right of return. [146140]
§ Mr. BattleFollowing the court judgment a new BIOT Immigration Ordinance was enacted to allow the Ilois to return to certain islands in the territory, to visit or stay, without requiring a permit.