MAURITIUS: Chagossians hope to return home next year after 40 years of exile

Record ID: 455974

  • Title: MAURITIUS: Chagossians hope to return home next year after 40 years of exile
  • Date: 30th July 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) CASSIS, MAURITIUS (JULY 26, 2007) (REUTERS) CROWD OF CHAGOSSIANS VARIOUS OF CHAIRMAN OF THE CHAGOSSIAN REFUGEE CAMP, OLIVIER BANCOULT, ADDRESSING CROWD CHAGOSSIAN WOMEN BANCOULT UNVEILS A PLAQUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN, CHAGOSSIAN REFUGEE CAMP, OLIVIER BANCOULT, SAYING: "I can say next year in Chagos. Yes I personally think." PLAQUE READING "CHAGOSSIAN BASE, MEMORABLE MEETING PLACE WHERE WE STARTED OUR LEGAL STRUGGLE, WE RUN STRAIGHT TOWARDS THE GOAL IN ORDER TO WIN. CHAGOS REFUGEES GROUP, JULY 2007" (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN, CHAGOSSIAN REFUGEE CAMP, OLIVIER BANCOULT, SAYING: "We need all infrastructure. The island should be with all necessary equipment like housing, hospital, communications, all energy. The islands should be liveable so that people can go and live there." ELDERLY CHAGOSSIAN WOMEN PULLING BACK A FLAG TO REVEAL A SMALL MURAL OF A CHAGOSSIAN BEACH PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE MURAL
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mauritius
  • Country: Mauritius
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAD4J4MLA3A0ACC7456OI07PZ1H
  • Story Text: Chagossian refugees could be home next year, four decades after being expelled from their Indian Ocean homes, Olivier Bancoult, chairman of the Chagos Refugees Group (CRG) said on Thursday (July 26).
    Some 2,000 Chagos islanders were ejected by Britain from their tropical archipelago during the Cold War to make way for a U.S. military base on the island of Diego Garcia. The base has since been used for military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
    But in May, Britain's High Court dismissed an appeal by the Foreign Office against the Chagossians' return, saying "the right to go home was a fundamental right of all human beings".
    The legal victory was the islanders' third against the British government, who claim on grounds of security that the islanders should not return.
    Olivier Bancoult, chairman of the CRG who has driven the Chagossian campaign, anticipating their return home said: "I can say next year in Chagos. Yes I personally think."
    More than 89 percent of Chagossians are expected to return, but many young Chagossians seem more intent on moving to Britain.
    "We need all infrastructure - the islands should have all the necessary equipment like housing, hospitals, communications, all energy, the islands should be liveable so that people can go and live there,"
    Bancoult said, adding the British government should take responsibility for making the islands habitable.
    Both Mauritius - also in the Indian Ocean - and Britain claim sovereignty over the islands.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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