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Expelled Chagossians lose legal challenge

FORMER residents of the Chagos Islands, forcibly expelled from their homelands 40 years ago, have lost the latest round of a legal battle against the decision to build a marine park around the islands.

The islanders had asked the Court of Appeal to rule that the decision to create the park round the British-controlled Indian Ocean territory, which would mean fishing in the area being banned, was unlawful and violated their human rights.

But three appeal judges yesterday ruled against them after a hearing in London earlier this year.

The decision to create the park was made in 2010 and upheld by the High Court in 2013, but lawyers for exiled islanders had appealed, claiming the High Court ruling was flawed.

Exiled islanders complained that the decision had been driven by the intention to prevent Chagossians and their descendants resettling. 

But the court disagreed, finding that judges who sat in the High Court had been entitled to reach the conclusions that they had.

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