Chagos

The only permanent inhabitants are employees of the military, including civilian contracted personnel, on Diego Garcia. The Chagos Islands are the homeland of the Chagossians, a Bourbonnais Creole–speaking people, though since 1971 no Chagossians have been allowed to live there. The United Kingdom expelled the entire Chagossian population from the archipelago at the request of the United States between 1967 and 1973. The main forcible removal of Diego Garcia's population took place in July and September 1971. In 2026, a group of Chagossians returned to the archipelago without government permission in an effort to reestablish the settlement on Île du Coin, and began legal action to establish their right to stay permanently.