By William Meredith

Diego Garcia is an island that is located in the Indian Ocean about 1600 km to the south of the South of India. A British Indian Ocean territory, it now serves as an exclusive military base When seen from the air it looks like a footprint in the Indian Ocean It was leased to the United Kingdom in the 1960’s The island is spread over an area of 6720 acres During the 19 th Century, the island was used for the purpose of plantations, producing copra and coconut oils

Nearly 40 years ago, The British owned island cleared out the people inhabiting the island, in order to make way for a tactical US military base. All the 4000 inhabitants were taken to the Republic of Mauritius. Today, the former residents are seeking to return home but both the British and the American are refusing to allow them to do this.

Recently, the islanders have started to make accusations against the British. They have taken the case to court. The British said that it would be a “precarious and costly” operation and the USA had said that an “unacceptable risk” will arise to its base. The response to this was that they should be given the right to return, whether all of them want to or not, and claim that they would be able to make a living through ecotourism and fishing.

In 2000, The British High Court granted permission for the people to return to their country and provided them with the right to obtain British Citizenship. This was further delayed to 2002 and then the people returned to court seeking compensation after the delay of 2 years. They had been granted £650,000 on their removal in the 1970’s and a further £4 million in the 1980’s. Their compensation appeal was denied. This was followed by a British Government enactment of two Order-in-Councils decision to reverse the court decision in 2000 and ban the people from entering their country again. Then in 2006, there were more appeals as the High Court ruled that the Order- in-Council 2000 decision was unlawful and that the people can return to their home. This was upheld by the Court of Appeal but then this followed by an appeal from the British Government towards the High Court and this resulted in the decision being overturned once again. The people must now take their argument to the European Court of Human Rights.