After many years of battling the British Government, islanders who were illegally evicted from their Indian Ocean homes have won the right to return home.

The decision was actually made several years ago, but a disgraceful series of increasingly desperate appeals by Tony Blair's administration attempted to reverse previous courts' decisions.

The Chagos Islands are considered to be strategically important and the US military, which lease the islands from the UK. They have been used to launch bombing raids on Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the so called "War on Terror".

There are many islands in the Archipelago, and the US uses only a handful and concentrates most of its activities on Diego Garcia (the sovereignty of which was not affected by today's decision).

Since the population were violently displaced by the British Military they have suffered many problems adjusting to new lives in run down areas of the UK and Mauritius. Many have died or turned to drugs and alcohol.

Hopefully today's decision will allow them to regain some of their old island traditions and rebuild their old lives.

For more information please visit http://www.chagossupport.org.UK/