It’s over fifty years since residents of the Chagos Islands were evicted by the British government. They were removed to Mauritius, the Seychelles and the United Kingdom. In 2002, people born on the islands were given the right to apply for Biritsh citizenship and to live and work in the UK. But, that right was only extended to their children who were born between specific years. And it didn’t apply to later generations, even though some of them had lived in the UK since a young age. In the last week, the British government announced a change to the law…offering a new route to citizenship for descendants of those born on the islands. So, what does it mean to the community living there? And what has life been like for Chagossians in the UK?
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