Chagos Islanders denied right to return home – The Guardian

Posted November 16th, 2016 in armed forces, Chagos Islands, compensation, human rights, indigenous peoples, news by sally

‘Thousands of Chagos islanders, deported from their homeland in the Indian Ocean by the UK government to make way for a US military base in 1971, will not be given the right of return to resettle, the Foreign Office will announce on Wednesday.’

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The Guardian, 16th November 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Chagos islanders lose supreme court bid to return to homeland – The Guardian

‘Chagos islanders, forcibly removed from their homes in 1971, have lost a legal challenge at the supreme court that could have speeded up their return.’

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The Guardian, 29th June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Chagos Islanders’ fate to be decided by top court – The Guardian

‘A decades-long battle by the exiled people of the Chagos Islands to be allowed to return home will reach its conclusion on Wednesday.’

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The Guardian, 26th June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Doubts raised over UK government’s refusal to permit return to Chagos – The Guardian

Posted January 25th, 2016 in armed forces, Chagos Islands, documents, human rights, indigenous peoples, news by sally

‘For more than half a century the displaced people of the Chagos Islands have sought to return to their home, a collection of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean that constitutes one of the more far-flung outposts of the British empire.’

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The Guardian, 23rd January 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 3) – WLR Daily

Regina (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 3) [2014] EWCA Civ 708; [2014] WLR (D)  237

‘A leaked diplomatic cable published on the internet by a third party did not violate the archive and documents of the diplomatic mission which sent the cable since it had already been disclosed to the world by a third party. On that narrow ground it was admissible as evidence in court. However, even if the evidence in question had been admitted, it would not have led to a different decision and therefore was not a ground for allowing the appeal.’

WLR Daily, 23rd May 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Chagossians: Wikileaked cable admissible after all – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Rosalind English has summarised this unsuccessful appeal against the rejection of the Chagossians’ claims by the Divisional Court, and I have posted on this litigation arising out of the removal and subsequent exclusion of the population from the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory.’


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UK Human Rights Blog, 26th May 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Richard III and Chagossian judicial review claims all dismissed – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The facts of this application for judicial review were set out in David Hart QC’s post on the original permission hearing. To recap briefly, the Plantagenet Alliance, a campaigning organisation representing a group of collateral descendants of Richard III were given the go ahead to seek judicial review of the decision taken by the respondents – the Secretary of State, Leicester Council and Leicester University, regarding his re-interment at Leicester Cathedral without consulting them. More specifically, the claimant’s main case was that there was an obligation, principally on the part of the Ministry of Justice, to revisit or reconsider the licence once the remains had been conclusively identified as those of Richard III.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd May 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Chagossians update – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The appeal is against the decision of the Divisional Court in Bancoult v. FCO (read judgment and see my post here). Mr Bancoult had said that the decision to create the MPA was flawed by having an improper purpose (to stymie the Chagossians’ claims for resettlement), by inadequate consultation, and being a breach of an EU obligation to promote the economic and social development of the islands. The Court ruled against all these claims.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 11th April 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

The Chagossian Wikileaks cable judgment, fishing rights and a dose of EU law – UK Human Rights Blog

“The Divisional Court has now dismissed the claim by Mr Bancoult on behalf of the Chagossian islanders. He had challenged the designation of the waters around the islands as a ‘no take’ Marine Protected Area, i.e. one which could not be fished.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 11th June 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Chagos marine park is lawful, High Court rules – BBC News

“A UK government decision to create a controversial marine park in the Indian Ocean has been upheld by the High Court.”

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BBC News, 11th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Chagossians: Wikileaks cables not admissible in court – UK Human Rights Blog

“Bancoult v. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Divisional Court, Richards LJ and Mitting J, 16-24 April 2013, judgment awaited. A quick update at the end of the recent judicial review on 24 April by Mr Bancoult on behalf of the Chagossian islanders, but before judgment. The challenge was to the designation of the waters around their islands as a ‘no take’ Marine Protected Area, i.e. one which could not be fished.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 28th April 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com