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Head of government in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Indian Ocean Territory
The
Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory
is the head of government in the
United Kingdom
's
overseas territory
of the
British Indian Ocean Territory
. The Commissioner is appointed by the
British monarch
on the advice of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
. The Commissioner does not reside in the territory, as it has had no native population since the forced depopulation of the
Chagossian people
in the 1970s, and the only population is the military of the
United States
and the
United Kingdom
at the joint base at
Diego Garcia
.
The Commissioner's role is to administer the territory on behalf of the British government. This involves the passing of any necessary legislation for the territory, usually
Orders in Council
or
Statutory Instruments
. The Commissioner is also responsible for liaising with the
military of the United States
in matters concerning the territory. An
Administrator of the British Indian Ocean Territory
acts as the Commissioner's assistant. The Commissioner also appoints a representative on the territory, who is the senior British military officer at Diego Garcia.
The current Commissioner is
Paul Candler
. Since 1998, the Commissioner of the BIOT has also served as
Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory
.
Unlike the other governors and commissioners of other
British overseas territories
, there is no separate flag for the Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory. This is mainly because he is never resident in the territory, and he would be unable to fly any flag from his offices in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.
List of commissioners
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]