Diego Garcia became one of the world's most strategic military bases

Diego Garcia became a strategic military base after the United Kingdom and United States forcibly removed the Chagossian population between 1967 and 1973.

The International Court of Justice in 2019 ruled the removal of the Chagossians a serious violation of international law.

The UK falsely declared to the UN that the Chagos Archipelago had no permanent population to avoid reporting its colonial administration.

Roughly 1,500 to 2,000 Chagossians were relocated, primarily to Mauritius and the Seychelles, often with little preparation.

Britain's House of Lords in 2008 overturned earlier rulings that had granted Chagossians the right to return, and a 1971 immigration order still bars them.