Welcome to the Chagos Islands website
Chagos Islands, once home to a native population known as Ilois,
or Chagossians, lies in the Indian Ocean approximately 500 kilometers
south of the Maldives.
The native population were deported by the British governement in the late
sixties and early seventies to fulfill the terms of a leasing
agreement to depopulate the islands, initally a communication centre,
later to became a US military base on the main island of Diego Garcia
during the cold war.
Today, Chagos archipelago is a military zone and has served in launching
B52's during operation Desert Fox in '98 in Iraq, and the various
bombing attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq thereafter.
The surviving Ilois are still fighting for the return of
their country via British courts. The current lease
expires in 2016 but has an option to renew for an additional 50 years.
Only US and UK military personnel or contract workers servicing the military
and the odd detainees at the local correction facility named
Camp Justice may enjoy the sights of Diego Garcia.