Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is a 17 square mile atoll located in the Indian Ocean. It is part of the Chagos Archipelago[?] and is a British dependency, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Diego Garcia is home to a military base jointly operated by the United States and the United Kingdom. The base serves as a naval refueling and support station. It is also equipped with airfields that support even the largest of modern aircraft. B-52s and other bombers have been deployed from Diego Garcia on missions to Iraq during the Gulf War, and to Afghanistan in October, 2001.

Between 1967 and 1973 the British Government forcibly removed 2000 Ilois islanders[?] to make way for the military base. In 2000 the British High Court granted the islanders the right to return to the Archipelago. In 2002 the islanders and their descendants, now numbering 4500, returned to court claiming compensation, after what they said were two years of delays by the British Foreign Office. The islanders currently live in the slums of Mauritius.

Diego Garcia from space (source: NASA)

Sources:

• 'Tricked' islanders sue UK for millions (http://www.politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,823709,00.html), The Guardian, November 1, 2002
• Britain Illegally Expelled Chagos Islanders for U.S. Base, Court Rules (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/110400-01.htm), Los Angeles Times[?], November 4, 2000
• Diego Garcia: remembering paradise lost (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/835963.stm), BBC News, 10 January 2001