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LONDON (Reuters) - Indian Ocean islanders expelled by Britain to make way for a U.S. military base on Diego Garcia won the right on Thursday to go home after almost 40 years in exile. Two judges ruled in favour of the Chagos islanders who had fought a protracted legal battle with the British government, which blocked their return to the idyllic archipelago where they had eked out a living fishing and coconut farming. The 2,000 Chagossians were expelled by Britain and dumped hundreds of miles (km) away on the shores of Mauritius and Seychelles. For years they have lived as...

Hundreds of Indian Ocean islanders who were forcibly deported from their homeland by Britain 40 years ago won a battle yesterday which could see them set sail for an emotional return within days. The court of appeal in London found the British government guilty of "abuse of power" for attempting to prevent the Chagos Islanders from reclaiming land leased from under their feet by Britain to the US in the 1960s. Three judges upheld a ruling in the islanders' favour last year, ordered the government to pay their legal costs and withheld support for an appeal to the House of...