The British government announced to Parliament that it will commission a new feasibility study into the resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory, BIOT, whose indigenous population the Chagossian was removed in the sixties and early seventies for defense reasons and is an issue that remains highly controversial and sensitive.
The Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Britain’s other Overseas Territories should be given a seat in the Commons, UK Independent Party MEP Nigel Farage said on Tuesday. The UKIP leader claims their voices are dangerously ‘muted’ in Britain and they should be allowed to elect their own ‘MP for the Territories’, following on the French experience.
The Foreign Office said that the UK is striving to ensure that all fishing undertaken in the Southern Ocean is carefully managed and sustainable and that the current FCO focus is supporting international work to establish a network of Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas.
The United Kingdom Minister for the Overseas Territories Mark Simmonds welcomed the announcement of a set of additional measures to safeguard the sustainable-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) around the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.
The British Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council this week agreed a joint statement underscoring a shared commitment to self-determination. The Falklands were represented at the council by lawmakers Jan Cheek and Sharon Halford.
The Joint Ministerial Council met for the first time on Tuesday bringing together political leaders from the Overseas Territories and UK Ministers to work together on several issues including strengthening economies and the environment.The Falklands government is represented by members of the Legislative Assembly Jan Cheek and Sharon Halford.
For the first time, the 16 flags of the British Overseas Territories including the Falkland Islands are being flown in Parliament Square, alongside the flags of the Crown Dependencies, to mark a state occasion, reports an official release from the Foreign Office.
The UK has launched a new Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund, which consolidates funds from the Foreign Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for International Development, dedicated to environmental and conservation projects in those territories.
The Foreign Office will fly the Gibraltar flag on Monday, National Day in its building along Whitehall. Foreign Office ministers David Lidington and Mark Simmonds, respectively the ministers for Europe and the Overseas Territories, have said they welcome the raising of the Gibraltar Flag over the FCO in Whitehall to mark Gibraltar Day.
Millions of tons of plastic debris dumped each year in the world's oceans could pose a lethal threat to whales and dolphins, according to a scientific assessment to be presented at a key international whaling forum this week.