LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A London high court has denied a claim for compensation from Britain by more than 5,000 displaced Chagos islanders, Sky News reported Thursday.
The entire population of the Chagos archipelago was relocated between 1967 and 1973. Their numbers vary -- 2,000 people according to the islanders, but only 1,000 according to the British government.
A few were sent to the Seychelles but most were shipped to Mauritius, both island nations off Africa's east coast.
Britain leased Diego Garcia, halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia and part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, to the United States.
Judge Duncan Ouseley ruled the islanders and their families had no reasonable grounds for bringing the compensation claim and seeking the restoration of their property.
