Exiled Islanders of Diego Garcia Face Appeal By Government

The islanders of Diego Garcia suffered a fresh setback yesterday when the Foreign Office said it is to appeal against a high court ruling that would have allowed them to return to their Indian Ocean homes. The entire population of about 2,000 were tricked out of their homes in the 1960s and 1970s by the British government to make way for the US airbase on Diego Garcia, which has been used for bombing Iraq and Afghanistan.

The islanders have won two legal cases in London, in 2000 and again in May, that have criticised the government's behaviour and recognised their right to go home. Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Cresswell, in their ruling in May, described as "repugnant" the government's decision to depopulate the islands by stealth.

The Foreign Office has been under pressure from the US government not to allow the islanders to return to Diego Garcia or its surrounding islands, citing security risks to its base. Lawyers sympathetic to the islanders said the government's chances are slim given that the high court has twice ruled in favour of the islanders.

Olivier Bancoult, the islanders' leader, said: "I am extremely disappointed that the British government has missed this golden opportunity to give justice back to the people."

In another setback to the islanders, a group of children of Chagos islanders living in Britain failed in a high court claim yesterday that they were treated unfairly when they were refused job-seeker's allowance and housing to help them start new lives. All are British citizens and entitled to live in Britain. Lawyers argued they should not be subjected to the habitual residence test because of their close historical ties with the UK.

Mr Justice Bennett said the 41 individuals had all now found work and housing, but sought arrears of job-seeker's allowance for three months and a declaration that they were unlawfully refused housing. The displacement from their homeland "cannot fail to evoke the greatest sympathy", he said, but the government's refusal was not disproportionate.