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 Ilois, and 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 Ilois, then numbering some 2000 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 (For the relationship between the Chagos Archipelago and Mauritius, see Chagos Archipelago). Their forced (and, according to some authorities, illegal) expulsion and dispossession was for the purpose of establishing a US air and naval base on Diego Garcia, where a small contingent of UK military personnel are stationed as well.

UK CHAGOS SUPPORT ASSOCIATION: http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/

For the latest see below.

Attached to this e-mail is the March Update of the UK Chagos Support Association. Below are some very useful and informative links.

BBC Radio 4 documentary "Paradise Lost - the Story of the Chagos Islanders", Wednesday 7 March 2007, 11:00-11:30am
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/jsvt6/

Scotsman article "Mauritius says may leave Commonwealth in Chagos row", by Kate Kelland, 7 March 2007: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=365742007

Times article "Scandalous, high handed... and a disgrace to Britain", by Ishbel Matheson, 5 March 2007: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article1469640.ece

Times article "Chagos justice", by Daniel Simpson, 13 February 2007: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/d...icle1374916.ece

Times article "Justice for the Chagos Islands", by David Snoxell, British High Commissioner to Mauritius 2000-2004, 12 February 2007: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/d...icle1368822.ece

Chagos petition to Tony Blair: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/DiegoGarcia/