Chagos Islanders Lose Right to Return

23.10.08

Britain's the House of Lords has overturned a lower court ruling that would have allowed displaced Chagossian people to return to their homes in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Hengride Permel, who represents the Chagos Islands Community Association, said the Britain missed "a chance ... to right a wrong ... it is a shameful day for the government."

The Chagos Islanders plight to return is hardly covered in the mainstream media. It is a story of brutal imperialism and war mongering that implicates Britain, and of course, the United States.

In the 1960s and 1970s Britain used force to remove the Chagossian people from their homes in and around the largest Chagos Island called Diego Garcia.

The move came after Britain leased Diego Garcia to the US. Britain also allowed the US to build a navy and air base.

The vast majority of displaced Chagossians were settled into slums in Mauritius.

In 2007 the British High Court ruled that the Chagossian people were wrongfully expelled and that they should have the right to return.

Today's House of Lords decision, the highest court of appeal in Britain, sets the High Court decision aside.

The decision was in large part based on the British government's argument that the right of return would bridge security because the US uses Diego Garcia to launch military operations to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House of Lords decision confirms that Britain (along with the US) have condemned the Chagossian people to permanent and inhumane exile.

See "Stealing a Nation, A Special Report by John Pilger" (2006) for critical background coverage. Also, you can get more information from the UK Chagos Support Association.

Ridwan Laher

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