Government dragging its feet on helping Chagos islanders

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has today demanded the Government address the immigration struggles of Chagos islanders, after the British Indian Ocean Territory (Citizenship) Bill was blocked from advancing for the second time.  The Bill, which has cross party support, was objected to at its initial Stage 2 reading on Friday 16th March 2018 and has now been blocked in the House of Commons for a second time. The Home Affairs Committee report on the Windrush generation recommends that the Government support the British Indian Ocean Territory (Citizenship) Bill and “allow anyone who can prove that they are descended from a person born on the Chagos Islands to register as a British overseas territories citizen and thereby have a right to remain in the UK”. Christine Jardine said: “The Government cannot kick the can down the road on Chagossians’ futures forever in the hope it won’t be noticed. We will not let them repeat the mistreatments of Windrush.  “The Home Secretary has promised to consider this appeal for months now. He must immediately confirm whether the government will support the BIOT Bill and quash the worries of the descendants of those evicted from Chagos, who can’t return home and can’t meet the steep costs of citizenship. “This is is the Windrush scandal all over again. This Conservative Government has neither learned nor changed.”