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Henry Smith MP asks Home Secretary for reform to citizenship law for Chagossians

Jul 29, 2020
2 min

Henry Smith MP asks Home Secretary for reform to citizenship law for Chagossians

Conservative MP for Crawley Henry Smith has spoken in Parliament to challenge Home Secretary Priti Patel to reform citizenship law to stop young Chagossians facing excessive immigration costs and even deportation from the UK. Mr Smith was speaking after a statement on the 'Windrush' report. In the previous Parliament, Mr Smith proposed a Private Members Bill which would have given a path to British citizenship for all descendants of people born on the Chagos Islands. The bill

New UK Ministers take responsibility for Chagos Islands

Aug 4, 2019
3 min

New UK Ministers take responsibility for Chagos Islands

The UK's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now appointed a full set of Ministers, with many new faces taking up responsibilities directly related to the future of the Chagos Islands and the Chagossian people. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson: Having served as Foreign Secretary for two years between July 2016 and July 2018, Mr Johnson has already had some experience dealing with issues around the Chagos Islands and the Chagossian people. As Foreign Secretary, he was respon

Chagos All-Party Group meeting: Cooridnator's Summary

Apr 24, 2019
3 min

Chagos All-Party Group meeting: Cooridnator's Summary

Thanks as ever to David Snoxell, coordinator of the Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group, for the below summary of the group's latest meeting. Issues discussed include the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict, future legal challenges and the government's response to renewed questioning. UK Chagos Support Association also extends our welcome to the three new members of the All-Party Group: Liberal Democrat Tom Brake, Labour MP John Groganm Conservative M

Foreign Affairs Committee calls for change in nationality law that could help Chagossians

Apr 7, 2019
2 min

Foreign Affairs Committee calls for change in nationality law that could help Chagossians

Foreign Affairs Committee latest report Right now Chagossians in the UK - particularly the grandchildren of those born on the Chagos Islands - often face long, expensive legal battles to win the right to stay in the UK, even if they've lived and grown up in the country for many years. This is because the right to UK citizenship only passes down one generation. So the children of those who were deported have the right to British Overseas Territory citizenship - and so a cheape

Chagossian community hustings in Crawley

Jun 5, 2017
3 min

Chagossian community hustings in Crawley

Wednesday evening saw the UK Chagos Support Association put on a hustings event at the Broadfield Community Centre for the benefit of the Chagossian community in Crawley to help them decide which MP to vote for in the constituency in the general election next Thursday 8th June. The event was attended by the Conservative candidate Henry Smith who has represented the constituency since 2010, the labour candidate Tim Lunnon who is the current councillor for Broadfield South, and

Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting: Coordinator's Summary

Apr 15, 2016
3 min

Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting: Coordinator's Summary

Thanks as ever to volunteer Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group Coordinator David Snoxell for providing the below summary of the latest meeting of the Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group. The Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-party Parliamentary Group held its 54th meeting on 13 April. The Group paid tributes to Lord Avebury who died on 14 February. He had founded the APPG in December 2008 and was its vice chairman. Members affirmed that Eric Avebury had done much

Labour Shadow Minister calls for Chagossian return

Apr 12, 2016
2 min

Labour Shadow Minister calls for Chagossian return

Labour’s Shadow Foreign Minister Catherine West today (12th April) spoke up to back Chagossian return to their homeland, as party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn watched on. This is the most direct indication yet that the Labour Party will back Chagossians’ ambitions to begin resettlement of their homeland as soon as possible. The full written record of the questions can be read here. “Will the Foreign and Commonwealth Office invest the money to recogn

Chagos Refugee Group Leader Oliver Bancoult hands letter to UK PM David Cameron

Apr 6, 2016
2 min

Chagos Refugee Group Leader Oliver Bancoult hands letter to UK PM David Cameron

Chagos Refugee Group Leader Oliver Bancoult is today (7 April) handing in a letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street calling on him to “show statesmanship” by ending Chagossians' exile. You can read Mr Bancoult's letter in full here. Chagossians have lived in exile since they were forcibly removed from their Chagos Islands homeland in the Indian Ocean in the early 1970s. Despite being British citizens, they were removed under UK Government order so a US