The government of Mauritius has accused Britain of "crimes against humanity" and urged it to bow to international law and surrender control of the disputed Chagos Islands.
Despite concerted opposition from both the UK and US, Mauritius has won a string of significant victories, first at the UN General Assembly, then at the UN's International Court of Justice, and finally at the UN's tribunal for settling maritime disputes.
UN maps now show the territory as Mauritian, while Britain has recently been ordered by two international courts to "decolonise" Mauritius by formally renouncing its sovereignty over Chagos.
The UK removed the entire population of the Chagos islands in the early 1970s, seeking to portray them as itinerant workers rather than a settled population that had lived on the islands for generations. British diplomats knew that it was illegal, under international law, to split up a colony before granting it independence, but felt that a few uninhabited islands might go unnoticed.
The UK had already cut a secret deal with the US government to lease Diego Garcia. Mauritian officials say they were blackmailed by Britain into agreeing to surrender the islands or forfeit the right to independence from the UK, which they secured in 1968.
Most of the population of the Chagos Islands was dumped, unceremoniously, and without compensation, in Mauritius, 1,000 miles to the south. Some moved to the Seychelles and to Britain, where many now live in the Surrey town of Crawley.
Chagos islanders in emotional, historic trip home - BBC News
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