Chagos islanders(also known as Diego Garcian, Chagossians) had the opportunity of visiting their homeland for the first time after more than thirty five years of their eviction from the British Indian Ocean Territory(formerly Chagos Archipelago) in 2006.
Unfortunately due to political interference the Diego Garcians and other Chagos Islanders residing in the UK were not included into the equation by local groups in Mauritius.
It is becoming evident that the Diego Garcians will not be allowed to return to resettle on Diego Garcia, because several High Courts judgements have upheld only a return to the outer islands of the territory. The agreement between the US and the UK Governments will end in 2016, with a further twenty years if non of them decides contrarily.
The fact that about a thousand of Diego Garcians and other Chagos islanders are now settled in the UK, mainly in Crawley, its unlikely that all of us would return for a new life in the islands. The decision to return to settle on the islands will be a personal one, not of the majority.
We believe that each individual must have the right to make that personal decision, and it will be unfair on our community for any organisation to pretend that all of us would return or would want the US base to be closed.
However, it has become the aspiration of nearly everybody to visit their homeland, which is that part of their cultural and ancestral heritage.
This campaign has its reasons and we are urging the Government to organise a visit to Diego Garcia and other islands of the Chagos next year. Our community Leader, Allen Vincatassin, has started this campaign and has handed a letter to the Overseas Territories Minister, Meg Munn on the 5th of December 2007.
Laura Moffatt our local MP is now the Honourable President of the Society and we are campaigning together for the success of this visit.
