History of Chagos Archipelago

The islands were first discovered by vasco da gama, and were occupied by France as a part of Mauritius in the early18th century, occupied by Britain in18th year, and ceded by France to Britain in18th year. As a part of Seychelles, Darwin visited here in 1836. 1903 August 3 1 was then under the jurisdiction of British Mauritius. 1965 became a British Indian Ocean territory. However, Mauritius has not abandoned its territorial claims. 1967, Britain signed a treaty with the United States to establish an air force and naval base on Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia island base played an extremely important role in the two Gulf wars and the Afghan war. In order to build a military base, the British forcibly drove away the islanders, causing constant protests from the islanders. In 2000, the British High Court ruled that the government's actions were illegal and allowed islanders to freely return to other islands except Diego Garcia. In the name of military defense needs, the United States prohibits civilians from setting foot on Diego Garcia.

1966, Britain and the United States reached an agreement to lease Diego Garcia to the United States for 50 years. At present, Diego Garcia has become an important military base of the US military. The U.S. military has more than 1700 soldiers here, and has a lot of war materials. The runway of the airport on the island can be used for B-52 large bombers to take off and land, and the port can be used for the aircraft carrier of the Fifth Fleet to dock. In the Gulf War, the Afghan War and the Iraq War, Diego Garcia became the starting point for the US B-52 bombers to launch attacks and played an important role in the victory of the US military.

From 1966 to 1973, about 2,000 Chagos Archipelago residents were expelled from their homes where they had lived for hundreds of years and were "forcibly immigrated" to Seychelles and Mauritius. Since then, their lives have plummeted and many people have committed suicide. Only 500 of these islanders are still alive.

Bankul, who now lives in Mauritius, has been running around since the 1980s, contacting islanders living in various places and discussing the issue of returning to China. With the enthusiastic support of his compatriots, Bankul established the Chagos Islander Return Alliance to lead the islanders in their arduous struggle to return home.

In 2000, Bankul filed a lawsuit in the British High Court on behalf of Chagos Islanders, asking the court to rule that the British government's expulsion of Chagos Islanders was illegal and allowed the islanders to return to their hometown. The judge of the High Court quickly ruled in favor of the islanders' request. This once delighted Chagos islanders. The islanders soon found that the road to their hometown was not smooth.

In June 2004, Queen Elizabeth II issued an Order in Council to maintain the ban on islanders returning to live on the island. Islander lawyers believe that the Queen has the right to legislate on British territory in the Indian Ocean, but her power is limited to legislation "for the purpose of promoting territorial peace, harmony and good governance" and she has no right to "expel British residents from Indian Ocean territory".

At the end of 2005, Chagos islanders appealed to the British High Court to overturn the government's ban.

On May 1 1, 2006, the High Court of London made a ruling and the islanders won.

On May 23, 2007, the British Court of Appeal ruled that it supported the ruling made by the British High Court in May 2006, allowing islanders and their families to return to all the islands in the Chagos Archipelago except Diego Garcia. Chagos islanders won in the English Court of Appeal. Residents of Chagos Archipelago can finally return to beautiful homeland where they have been away for many years.