| The Chagos Islanders - Îlois |
| The Chagossian (also Îlois or Chagos Islander) people are an ethnic group who were the indigenous inhabitants of the Chagos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory. The Chagossians resided in the islands of Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, and had settled in other parts of the Chagos Archipelago, like Egmont Islands and Eagle Islands. Most of the Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom because after being deported from their homeland by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This mass deportation was carried out so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a military base shared between the UK and the United States. Today, there are no Chagossians that live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base Camp Justice. |
| The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly of African heritage, particularly coming from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius. There is also a significant proportion of Indian ancestry. The French brought some to the Chagos islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century. |
| The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a mix of Indigenous language and French-based creole language and part of the Bourbonnais Creole family. Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagosian people living in the UK speak English. |
| The Archipelago later passed to the control of the United Kingdom and came to form part of the Colony of Mauritius. |
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| Deportation |
In 1965, as part of a deal to grant Mauritian independence, the Chagos Archipelago was split off from the Colony and came to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The territory's new constitution was set out in a statutory instrument imposed unilaterally without any referendum or consultation with the Chagossians and it envisaged no democratic institutions. The constitution prohibited anyone from residing in the islands without a permit.
In the following years from 1967 and 1973, the Chagossians, then numbering some 2,000 people, were expelled by the British government, first to the island of Peros Banhos, 100 miles away from their homeland, and then, in 1973, to Mauritius.
Their forced (and, according to some authorities, illegal) expulsion and dispossession was for the purpose of establishing a United States air and naval base on Diego Garcia, where a small contingent of UK military personnel is stationed as well. |
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| Fight for the right to return |
| From November 5 to November 23, 2001, over two hundred Chagossians maintained a vigil outside the British High Commission in Port Louis, Mauritius.[citation needed] On May 21, 2002, the British Foreign Affairs Secretary Jack Straw signed a document conferring British citizenship upon the Chagossians, later implemented in "Section 6: The Chagossians: Citizenship" of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. |
| Return Frustrated |
Despite the court judgment recognising the Chagossians' rights, the islands were uninhabited and there were no civilian transportation links. Most of the Chagossians remained in impoverished conditions, unable to facilitate their own return. Promises of the British Government to assist in resettlement failed to materialise.
On October 9, 2003, in a controversial judgment, Justice Ousley of the High Court decreed that the Chagossians had no right to any compensation from the British Government. Then, in June 2004, the British Government effectively overruled the 2000 court decision in favour of the Chagossians by an order-in-council. The Chagossians and their advocates appealed this move to the High Court of England and Wales and the European Court of Human Rights. |
| High Court Case |
In early April 2006, a group of around 100 Chagossians were permitted to visit the British Indian Ocean Territory for the first time in over 30 years in a trip. The trip was organised and financed by the British Foreign Office.
On May 11, 2006, the Chagossians won their case before the High Court, which ruled that they are entitled to return to the Chagos Archipelago. It remains to be seen whether when or how the judgment might be implemented in practice. The UK government launched an appeal at the Court of Appeal against the May 11 ruling in June 2006. The Foreign office has put forward an argument based on the treatment of the Japanese Canadians following the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
On May 23, 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed the UK Government's appeal saying that the methods used to stop the Chagos families to return to the islands were "unlawful" and "an abuse of power". The Government was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords, but have stated an intention to appeal to the Lords against that refusal. The Government launched an appeal to the Law Lords in November 2007. |
| Law Lords Ruling |
On October 22, 2008, the Law Lords reached a decision on the appeal made by the Secretary of State For Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK, David Milliband. They found in favour of the Government in a 3-2 verdict, ending the legal process in the UK and dashing the islanders hopes of return. The judgment was published on the UK parliament website.
In April 2010, the British Government established a marine nature reserve around the Chagos Islands known as the Chagos Protected Area.
The designation proved controversial as the decision was announced during a period when the UK Parliament was in recess. |
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