Member

Moreover, we must factor into the equation that, first, the Chagossian people did not live on the islands because we wronged them twice in forcibly removing them between 1968 and 1973 and then refusing from 1973 until the present to return them to their islands. They continue to live in countries that are members of the UN as a growing community in exile. Secondly, the biggest survey of Chagossian opinion, covering over a third of Chagossians living today, shows that more than 99% support becoming a resettled British Overseas Territory and less than 1% want the islands to be made part of the Republic of Mauritius. Thirdly, with the precedent arising from the UK Government offering the Ellice Islands self-determination before the decolonisation of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, there is another legal way forward.