Legal action to claim compensation and the right of abode in the Chagos began in April 1973 when 280 islanders, represented by a Mauritian attorney, petitioned the government of Mauritius to distribute the £650,000 compensation provided in 1972 by the British government to the Mauritian government for distribution. It was not distributed until 1977. Various petitions and lawsuits have been ongoing since that time. The British government has consistently denied any illegalities in the expulsion despite the February 2019 advisory ruling of the ICJ against the ongoing enforced exile of the Chagossians.