Chagos Islanders Stephen Allen; Steve Allen sku-38653890

In 1965, the UK separated the Chagos Islands from the colony of Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in connection with the founding of a US military facility on Diego Garcia. The islanders were secretly exiled to Mauritius, where they became chronically impoverished.

This hardcover book by Stephen Allen; Steve Allen examines what international law could mean for their return. It argues that BIOT is a 'Non-Self-Governing Territory' under Chapter XI of the UN Charter and for wider purposes of international law. It considers whether self-determination, indigenous land rights and human rights treaty obligations support a Chagossian right to return.

Those rights assume a valid UK sovereignty claim over BIOT, which the book describes as questionable and disputed by Mauritius; the Mauritian claim could compromise the islanders' entitlements. The book uses the competing claims to examine how international law's protection of colonial territorial integrity during decolonisation can conflict with the self-determination claims of non-European peoples, and argues for a more nuanced approach to sovereignty disputes arising from European colonialism.

International Law Books; SKU sku-38653890.