THE government faced a storm of criticism in the Commons yesterday after it ruled out allowing Indian Ocean islanders to return to the homeland from which Britain evicted them 53 years ago.

In a decision which one MP described as a return to “arrogant colonial Britain,” the government announced on Wednesday that the Chagos Islanders must remain exiles for the rest of their lives.

Between 1968 and 1973, the 2,300-strong population was removed to enable the United States to establish a military base on the main Chagos island of Diego Garcia.

The US repaid the favour by letting Britain have the Polaris nuclear missile system at a knock-down price.

In 1976, the islands were leased to the US for 50 years, with an option for a further 20.

Today, Diego Garcia is occupied by about 3,200 US military and civilian personnel.

The initial lease expired this year and the Chagossians are waging a legal battle to be allowed to return.

Scattered communities of Chagossians live on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and the Seychelles, while another community exists in Crawley, West Sussex.

The government’s decision was debated in Parliament yesterday.

Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan said the government’s decision was “final,” but that around £40 million would be provided to assist Chagossian exiles.

Tory, Labour and SNP MPs condemned the refusal.

Tory Andrew Rosindell said: “This decision continues to undermine the United Kingdom’s human rights record and the British sense of fair play.

“British Chagossians should have the right of self-determination just as we afford to all of her majesty’s subjects, who rightly expect the protection of the crown which is being denied to them today.”

SNP MP Peter Grant called the decision “a return to the days of the arrogant colonial Britain that should have
been consigned to the dustbin of history 100 years ago.”

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: “The treatment of the Chagos Islanders is a dark stain on our country’s history.

“Yesterday’s decision and the way it was made has done nothing to remove that stain.”

Ms Thornberry pledged that Labour would “never give up” on the Chagossians.”

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