UK Chagos Support Association

Credit: L'Express

The UK Chagos Support Association was formed to support the Chagossians in their fight for justice.

In the late 1960s the Chagos archipelago was seized by the UK government and given over to the US, who wished to use the largest island, Diego Garcia, as a military base. The inhabitants of the island were subsequently displaced and have been living in exile ever since. We feel it is a disgrace that the British Government continues to deny justice to the Chagos islanders. We feel that justice is long overdue and we call on the Government to give the islanders the right to return to their homeland, as well as proper compensation and an apology for everything they have suffered over the past 40-odd years at the hands of the British authorities.

The association works to draw attention to the islanders’ plight, to help them in their struggle against injustice and to support them in hardship. We are a small group of unpaid volunteers and we gratefully accept donations which we can use to support our work and to help islanders in difficulty. Our honorary president is Olivier Bancoult, who heads the Chagos Refugees Group, the largest Chagossian community group. Our patrons are Ben Fogle, Tam Dalyell and Philippa Gregory.

Contributions

The MOCO Project participated in a Chagos heritage day in Crawley and encouraged participation among the people visiting the day. A UK Chagos Support Association Questionnaire was designed.