Islanders urged to move to UK

Islanders urged to move to UK

Islanders had to leave Diego Garcia when it became a military base

Almost 5,000 British citizens have been urged to leave their homes in the Indian Ocean to live in the South East.

The call has come from Allen Vincatassin, governor of a tiny Indian Ocean island called Diego Garcia, who has come to Crawley in West Sussex.

He believes about 5,000 of his fellow islanders, who are currently in exile in Mauritius, should move to the UK to earn money before returning to their homeland.

The islanders, who are all British citizens, were forced to leave Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Archipelago, in the 1970s when it was taken over by the British government for a British and American military base.

Dumped on wharf

Mr Vincatassin said his people had suffered considerable hardship since they were taken to Mauritius.

He said: "My vision for the community is that we come here - the first thing is to work to get finances, to be removed from poverty - and then go back to Diego Garcia.

"We were dumped on the wharf in Mauritius and we were forced to live in poverty, without any support, financial assistance or health assistance."

So far almost 100 people have made the trip and settled near Gatwick - and thousands more are expected.

Allen Vincatassin wants his fellow islanders to come to the UK

But officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have travelled to Mauritius to tell the islanders they must have work and housing before leaving for the UK.

And Henry Smith, a Conservative councillor for West Sussex County Council, and Labour MP for Crawley Laura Moffat, said they were concerned at the cost to the council if a large number of people moved to the area.

A joint statement said: "It is clear that this is a group of well motivated people who want to work and earn a living.

"But, in the short term, we must protect our local social services budget.

"This is why we are working together on this."

A London court ruled in 2000 that the islanders' deportation had been illegal.

They have since been fighting for compensation and the right to return to the Chagos Archipelago.