World
Chagos Islanders on an emotional historic homecoming
In a statement, the British Foreign Office refused to repeat previous assertions of sovereignty over the islands, pointing out that it had been informed of the trip in advance and would not seek to interfere. But the State Department claimed, incorrectly, that the trip was about “protecting the environment”, which Mauritius denied. Instead, the official aim is to map the Blenheim Reef as part of a maritime border dispute with neighboring Maldives.