Evicted islanders file complaint against UK govt.
Former residents of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, who were forced out of their homeland by Britain over 40 years ago, are now taking their legal battle to the highest UK court.
The group is taking the fight to the Supreme Court in London to challenge a House of Lords decision made six years ago, which prevented them from returning to their native home island.
The leader of the Chagossians, Olivier Bancoult, who has led the fight in British courts on behalf of the rest of the islanders, argues that the three-to-two majority ruling in favour of the state should be set aside.
The Supreme Court panel, led by the president, Lord Neuberger, is expected to hear that the challenge is being brought forth on the grounds of alleged “material non-disclosure” by the foreign secretary in relation to a feasibility study into the resettlement of former inhabitants conducted in 2002.
However, according to a Supreme Court summary of the case Bancoult “has subsequently been provided with documents relating to the 2002 feasibility study which he contends were not disclosed in the proceedings in breach of the respondent’s (secretary of state) duty of candour in public law proceedings, and which he alleges would have been highly likely to have affected the outcome of the appeal”, since the ruling in 2008.
The summary adds, “The appellant then decided to commission a further expert report on the reliability of the feasibility study. The appellant is applying for an order setting aside the judgment of the House of Lords and, if granted, for permission to rely on fresh evidence at the rehearing of the appeal.”
The Chagos families were made to leave the islands in the 1960s and 1970s after plans for a US air force base on the largest island, Diego Garcia came to light. The last residents of the British colony were removed in May 1973.
However, legal battles later concluded they were to return to any of the 65 other islands but prohibited them from Diego Garcia. The government then used the royal prerogative to abolish the ruling in 2004, which was later overturned by the high court and court of appeal.
As a result, the government approached the House of Lords in 2008 to argue against their ruling, stating the return of the islanders would seriously affect defence and security.
SU/GHN
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