In 1982, Britain's treatment of the Chagossians was being contrasted in the United Nations with its expenditure that year of £2 billion defending the rights of the Falkland Islanders. The Falklands and the Chagos each had a population of 2,000 British citizens. One population was white, the other black. While the Argentine invasion of the Falklands was furiously resisted by British forces sent 8,000 miles for the purpose, the American invasion of Diego Garcia was accommodated in every detail by the British government, which even arranged for the inhabitants' expulsion.