Written question asked by Chris Law (Scottish National Party) on Monday, 2 September 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 September 2019. It was answered by Andrew Stephenson (Conservative) on Monday, 9 September 2019 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Chagossians: Resettlement

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2019 to Question 278525 on Ilois: Resettlement, how much of the £20 million allocated to his Department for programmes to develop a support package for Chagossians living in Mauritius has been spent; and how much of that spending has been classified as Official Development Assistance.

Answer: Since the Written Ministerial Statement in November 2016, neither the main Chagossian leadership nor the Government of Mauritius have engaged actively with the UK Government in the development of a support package for Chagossians in Mauritius. However, as a first step DFID has contracted the British Council in Mauritius to deliver English Language Training (ELT) to the Chagossian community. The British Council ran a series of radio adverts at a cost of £5,444 to gauge interest among the Chagossian community. This is the only spending to date against DFID’s commitment of £20m and is classified as Official Development Assistance. Following this successful campaign, ELT courses started in late August.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 284717
Session: 2017-19
Related items: Chagossians: Expenditure
Tuesday, 23 July 2019
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Expenditure Mauritius Chagossians Resettlement
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk