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According to Mauritius, the proposal stemmed from a UK decision in the early 1960s to “accommodate the United States’ desire to use certain islands in the Indian Ocean for defence purposes.”
Well that’s the end of that. The US won’t allow any change in the island’s status if it is a strategic military post, but it will allow the UK to take the flack diplomatically.
A diplomatic cable from 2009 published by WikiLeaks quotes Colin Roberts saying “We do not regret the removal of the population” and explains the plan to declare it a marine reserve (which they subsequently did) so that “former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands”.
