Still dispossessed – the battle of the Chagos Islanders to return to their homeland
In 2010, the UK government created the world’s largest marine reserve around the Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The Islands’ original inhabitants were evicted 50 years ago to make way for a US air base on the island of Diego Garcia.
This briefing says that the creation of the Marine Protected Area, and the subsequent banning of commercial fishing in its waters, effectively bars Islanders from returning to their homes. Under international law, the Chagossians have a right to return to their homeland, unless such return is not feasible, in which case they should be offered appropriate compensation.