Conference: Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory

On November 12, 2015, the Centre for Small States at Queen Mary University of London will host a conference on "Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The British Indian Ocean Territory was created on 8 November 1965 by excising the Chagos Islands from the colony of Mauritius and three atolls from the Seychelles. The partitioning of Mauritius on the eve of independence; the involuntary displacement of the Chagos Islanders (pursuant to the construction of a US naval facility on Diego Garcia); and their subsequent chronic impoverishment in Mauritius has remained highly controversial. The marking of fifty years since the BIOT was constituted provides scholars and practitioners with a timely opportunity to reflect upon a range of legal issues which continue to affect the BIOT and to evaluate ways in which they might be resolved.