A Mauritian-chartered survey ship carrying Chagos Islanders exiled from their homeland by the UK government 50 years ago has left Seychelles bound for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
The 1,130-mile voyage marks the first time Chagossians have been allowed to enter the remote archipelago – cleared of its entire population in the early 1970s to make way for a US military base on Diego Garcia – without being under close British military escort.
