Former residents of the Chagos Islands, who were forcibly removed from their homeland more than 40 years ago have lost their latest legal challenge at the UK’s highest court.

You might have thought that during his recent visit to the UK, US president Barack Obama was solely concerned with convincing British voters that their country would be far better off remaining in the European Union. However, other issues made it on to the agenda in the discussions between the US president and his UK counterpart, David Cameron.

On September 16, 2002, a group of 19 people, who were born in the Chagos Archipelago, picked up their suitcases from the carousel at Gatwick Airport and, having passed through immigration, walked into the South Terminal.