Member

The British Overseas Territory in relation to which the imperative for the provision of a self-determination referendum is plainly greatest is the Chagos Islands, because its people have been denied all self-government for over 50 years as a result of having been forcibly removed from their territory. It is there that the self-determination deficit is uniquely total and the need to fulfil the self-determination obligation most pressing. While all the other overseas territories enjoy a measure of self-government—usually, in most matters apart from defence—the Chagossians have been denied it completely.