The limits of international law

But the Chagos story reminds us that there are sometimes other considerations

The Last Colony, Philippe Sands’s compelling new book, teaches us a great deal about the limits of international law. It also brings back memories of the man who tried to teach the subject to me.

If the main purpose of international law is to prevent international war, 2022 has not been a good year. But international lawyers can see further ahead than the rest of us. Sands in particular has always radiated a sense of optimism, celebrating progress and downplaying setbacks.

We can see that from how he tells the story at the heart of this book. It dates back to a decision taken by Harold Wilson’s Labour government in the mid-1960s. In granting independence to the British colony of Mauritius, the UK agreed to “detach” the Chagos archipelago and turn this string of tiny islands into a new colony called the British Indian Ocean Territory. But it was to be a colony without its indigenous people: around 1500 residents were then expelled so that the United States could build a joint military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

In the view of successive British governments, this was then — and remains now — in the UK’s interests. But there is no doubt that the deportation process was mishandled. A court has found that it was unlawful. Whether it was overtly racist, as Sands claims,¹ is not so clear. It was certainly a tragedy for those uprooted from their homes, as he movingly describes.

What, though, of my own connections with the story?