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Ilois or Îlois (also known as Chagossians) are a group of Creole-speaking people, mostly of Indian descent (along with populations from Madagascar, Mauritius, and Mozambique). They inhabited the island of Diego Garcia and other parts of the Chagos Archipelago for more than a century. Most arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century, while the very first Ilois were probably brought to the Archipelago as slaves by the French in 1776. The Archipelago later passed to the control of the United Kingdom and came to form part of the Colony of Mauritius.
The Ilois' exile from their homeland
In 1965, as part of a deal to grant Mauritian independence, the Chagos Archipelago was split off from the Colony and came to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The territory's new constitution was set out in a statutory instrument imposed unilaterally without any referendum or consultation with the Ilois, and envisaged no democratic institutions. The constitution prohibited anyone from residing in the islands without a permit.
In the following years from 1967 and 1973, the Ilois, then numbering some 2000 people, were expelled by the British government, first to the island of Peros Banhos, 100 miles away from their homeland, and then, in 1973, to Mauritius (For the relationship between the Chagos Archipelago and Mauritius, see Chagos Archipelago). Their forced (and, according to some authorities, illegal) expulsion and dispossession was for the purpose of establishing a US air and naval base on Diego Garcia, where a small contingent of UK military personnel are stationed as well.
Ilois obtain the right to return
In 1983, the UK gave the Mauritian government £4m, of which the Mauritian government transferred £1m to those deported Chagossians dwelling in that country as refugees. Later, some 30 years after their deportation, the Ilois demanded the right to return to their homeland. Their case was brought to the High Court of Justice in London by a British firm of solicitors, Sheridans, and on November 3 2000 the High Court ruled in their favour, stipulating that they should be allowed to return to their homeland. From November 5 to 23, 2001 , over two hundred Chagossians maintained a vigil outside the British High Commission in Port Louis, Mauritius. On 21 May, 2002, the British Foreign Affairs Secretary Jack Straw signed a document conferring British citizenship upon the Ilois, later implemented in "Section 6: The Ilois: Citizenship" of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.
Return frustrated
Despite the court judgment recognising the Ilois' rights, the islands were uninhabited and there were no civilian transportation links. Most of the Ilois remained in impoverished conditions, unable to facilitate their own return. Promises of the British Government to assist in resettlement failed to materialise.
On 9 October 2003, in a controversial judgment, Justice Ousley of the High Court decreed that the Ilois had no right to any compensation from the British Government. Then, in June 2004, the cabinet of Tony Blair cabinet effectively overruled the 2000 court decision in favour of the Ilois by an order-in-council, an archaic and rarely used parliamentary procedure. The Ilois and their advocates appealed this move by the British government to the High Court of England and Wales and the European Court of Human Rights.
New developments
In early April 2006, a group of around 100 Ilois were permitted to visit the British Indian Ocean Territory for the first time in over 30 years in a trip. The trip was organised and financed by the British Foreign Office and the government of Mauritius. *
On 11 May 2006, the Ilois won their case before the High Court, which ruled that they are entitled to return to the Chagos Archipelago. It remains to be seem whether the British Government will appeal, and when or how the judgment might be implemented in practice.*
The American lease on Diego Garcia is due to expire in 2016.
External links
"Ilois"