Chagos Refugees
The MovementHistory
The Chagossians are originally from a group of 65 islands known as Chagos Archipelagos situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean, namely Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos and Salomon. Five generations of chagossians have been living on these islands.
When Mauritius negotiated its independence in the late 1960’s, the British government obtained the use and access to the Archipelagos. Diego Garcia was leased to the United States and now serves as a military base. The people living on the Archipelagos were forcefully removed and deported to Mauritius and some to the Seychelles. Since then they have not been allowed to go back to their homeland.
Since their forced exile some forty years ago, they have been suffering much hardship and been living in utmost poverty in Mauritius. For the last 25 years or so, the Chagos Refugees Group (CRG) has been fighting to the right to go back to their homeland and for compensation as well.
