Caroline Sawyer, Helena Wray British Nationality Act 1981 that created the status: Gibraltar is a British territory physically in southern Spain and over which Spain has a claim. The inhabitants of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, which are claimed by Argentina, were British Dependent Territories Citizens until the armed conflict of 1983, after which by the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 they became British citizens (they are also entitled to Argentinean nationality but the white-European settler population does not generally claim this). They would have been reclassified as British citizens under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 in any event. A particular example of poor treatment of British nationals is that of the British inhabitants of the Chagos Islands, whose fate expresses a great deal about the constitutional meaning – or lack of it – of British nationality and citizenship. The inhabitants of the British Indian Ocean Territories were deliberately evicted by the British Government in the late 1960s so that the largest island, Diego Garcia, could be leased to the United States for use as an air base. Most went to live in Mauritius where they underwent much privation. In 2000, the High Court declared the prohibition on their return unlawful, and compensation was paid.51 A further decision favourable to the Islanders was made in 2006.52 Orders in Council made under the Royal Prerogative to prevent further action by the islanders were declared unlawful by the Court of Appeal in 2006,53 but the Government successfully appealed to the House of Lords in 2008.54 The Chagossians are still unable to return to their previous home although they were granted British citizenship under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. 3.6 ‘Foreigners within’?: British people who may also be nationals of other countries Within the UK, substantial populations possess or are entitled to the citizenship of other states. Although the attribution of British nationality was until the 1980s based on the mediaeval idea of allegiance to the monarch, British law has generally been accommodating of dual nationality. Britain is a mixed society in which, for example, emigration to the former colonies and return from them, or families spread across countries, have long been relatively common. There are therefore substantial numbers of people who have, or are eligible for, the nationality of another country, some but not all of whom may be perceptible as ‘ethnic minorities’. The decision to retain another nationality will depend on several considerations. A person might choose to be British in order to secure a useful European passport. On the other hand, countries which forbid dual nationality might deprive non-citizens of desirable rights, such as the right to retain ownership of land in that country, and, as the lack of formal citizenship has historically been unimportant in Britain, a person might choose not to naturalise for that reason.55 By removing total ius solis, the British Nationality Act 1981 introduced the idea that even UK-born people might be legal foreigners. The ‘time immemorial’ before which questions need not be asked has gradually receded, as more and more 51 R vs Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ex parte Bancoult [2000] EWHC (Admin) 413. 52 R vs Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ex parte Bancoult [2006] EWHC (Admin) 1038. 53 R vs Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ex parte Bancoult [2006] EWCA Civ 498. 54 R (on the application of Bancoult) v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2008] UKHL 61. 55 For example, in the case of the Guantanamo detainee Bisher Al-Rawi, he was said not to have been naturalised because he was the one ‘chosen’ to maintain the family’s claim on land in Iraq. 20 RSCAS/EUDO-CIT-CR 2014/1 - © 2014 Authors