LeNurb | September 2010 Columns and features 10 Features
Natasha Prayag Nobody should be denied the right to return home. What if you were denied that basic right? What if you were aggressively removed from your home, dropped thousands of miles away and forced to live in beyond deplorable conditions? Well, this has happened and continues to happen beneath our unsuspecting noses. In the late 1960s on an island unfamiliar to most, Diego Garcia -a small, idyllic island belonging to the Chagos Archipelago located in the Indian Ocean- its two-thousand inhabitants were forcefully removed by the British to allow the occupation of thousands of US soldiers and personnel; resulting in the illegal exile and severe mistreatment of two-thousand indigenous human beings. To secure Diego Garcia; the British agreed to grant independence over neighbouring Mauritius. In return they did not claim Diego Garcia or any other island within the Archipelago. Furthermore, the island was renamed ‘British Indian Owned Territory’ and leased to the US. After a deal struck between the US and UK government, the island was transformed into a US naval base in return for just $14 million. To ease the illegal extradition of the two thousand Chagossian people along, the then UK government maintained the abominable pretence; Diego Garcia was not in possession of an established society nor was it home to an indigenous population, just notable lie. The Chagossian people had resided on the island for several generations prior to their exile and had built shops, a school and a church. Moreover, the exile was sickeningly described by Sir Paul (1966) in his letter to diplomat Dennis Greenhill: “We must surely be very tough about this. The object of the exercise is to get some rocks which will remain ours... There will be no indigenous population except seagulls...” This was responded to by Greenhill: “Along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Man Fridays whose origins are obscure and who are hopefully being wished on to Mauritius.” The inhabitant’s animals were disturbingly gassed to death and in 1968 the Chagossian people were shipped to neighbouring Mauritius and Seychelles and the
The Right to Return UK, with no form of compensation or accommodation, forced to live in dilapidated housing without water or electricity and made to stew in their own, poignant sadness. This led to many taking their own lives. This was allowed to happen under Harold Wilson’s Labour government. In 2000, after years of tumultuous appealing, the exile of the two-thousand Chagossians
activity within the former Soviet Union after its expansion. Heinously breaching human rights laws and treaties, suspicions that Diego Garcia could have held detained “terror” suspects, much like Guantanamo, though the US and UK government deny any such activity. The island may also home nuclear weapons, contrary to the Treaty of Pelindaba: an African treaty for a nuclear-free zone;
arrest, detention or exile. This was breached. . Article 13: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state and (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. This was breached. Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control and (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. This was breached. The evident breaching accounts for a further seven articles for human rights according to the protecting the rights of whom it is supposed to: human beings. Thus far, to discuss the matter and it would seem the staff in the UK-ownership and human rights department at
by the courts and the right to return home was reinstated to the indigenous inhabitants of Diego Garcia. However, in 2004, Jack Straw’s sudden two Orders of Council removed this right once again. Furthermore, the shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband recent proposition to designate the Archipelago a Marine Protection Area would deny the Chagossians their principal means of livelihood, ultimately prohibiting their ability to return. The plight of the Chagossians was uncovered by acclaimed investigative journalist, John Pilger, whose documentary ‘Stealing a Nation’ won the Royal Television Society’s ‘Best Documentary’ prize in 2004. Pilger uncovered the horrendous treatment and the carefully concealed series of lies fabricated by the British government. To this day, many remain unaware of the issue, though the naval base located on the island is home to B-52 bombers used against Iraq and Afghanistan. The island was initially leased to the US to monitor
signed by all territories in Africa. Having leased Diego Garcia to the US, the UK believe the island to be exempt from the treaty, although it as: ‘(b) “Territory” meaning the land territory, internal waters, territorial seas and archipelagic waters and the airspace above them as well as the sea bed and subsoil beneath’. currently advocates ‘human rights’ though they plan to create a Marine Conservation Area which would prohibit the Chagossians from returning. They proudly boast their work based on the principles of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and numerous human rights treaties. They maintain the belief in a set of rights belonging to each and every human being: regardless of gender; religion; disability etc. their provisions and work for equal human rights on their website. hypocrisy. According to Article 9 of the Declaration on Human Rights: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
annual leave comprises a few weeks, not all 52). Then why the eternal silence? Defensiveness? Evasion? Guilt. If you, like me and many others, believe the people of Chagos should be fully compensated and their right to return home reinstated, please sign the petition at: http:// www.gopetition.com/petitions/letthe-chagos-islanders-return-home. html. Alternatively, please write to your local MP by going to www. parliament.uk, click ‘MP, Lords and see your local MP. Oblige them to they place pressure upon the failing to right the wrongs of two-thousand people spanning two generations. Email Joanne Yeadon (joanne. yeadon@fco.gov.uk) to discuss and Zoe Townsley (zoe.townsley@ fco.gov.uk) regarding UK ownership of Chagos. Thank you.