Around thirty Chagos islanders and supporters picketed today opposite the Houses of Parliament from 9am to 2 pm, where the appeal by the British government against the court decisions giving them the right to return to their homeland was being heard by the House of Lords.
Pictures (C) Peter Marshall, 2008. All rights reserved.
Pictures (C) Peter Marshall, 2008. All rights reserved.
Banner and placards opposite the Houses of Parliament
"Everyone has the right to live in his own country"
LET THEM RETURN
Some of the picket sitting on the wall
In 1966 the British government split the Chagos Islands away from Mauritius, with the intention of setting up a US air base on the main island of Diego Garcia.
From 1967 on the British used a variety of methods and tricks to remove the entire population of the Chagos archipelago. These included buying up and closing down the copra plantations which were the main work on the islands, and eventually stopping supplies to the island and forcing those remaining onto a ship that dumped them in Mauritius.
Some of the islanders were descendents of slaves who had come there over 150 years earlier when the island was under French rule, others had come later from Mauritius, India, Madagascar and Mozambique after the island became British when Napoleon was defeated. Around 8000 are still living in Mauritius, which became independent in 1968, but many of those born on the Chagos islands still have British passports, and some now live in this country.
The Chagossians (Ilois) have gone to the British courts and won the right to return to return to 65 islands (not including Diego Garcia itself.) The British government have refused to carry out these rulings and appealed. They lost the appeal in the High Court in May 2007, and appealed again to the House of Lords, which was expected to begin considering the case today.
From 1967 on the British used a variety of methods and tricks to remove the entire population of the Chagos archipelago. These included buying up and closing down the copra plantations which were the main work on the islands, and eventually stopping supplies to the island and forcing those remaining onto a ship that dumped them in Mauritius.
Some of the islanders were descendents of slaves who had come there over 150 years earlier when the island was under French rule, others had come later from Mauritius, India, Madagascar and Mozambique after the island became British when Napoleon was defeated. Around 8000 are still living in Mauritius, which became independent in 1968, but many of those born on the Chagos islands still have British passports, and some now live in this country.
The Chagossians (Ilois) have gone to the British courts and won the right to return to return to 65 islands (not including Diego Garcia itself.) The British government have refused to carry out these rulings and appealed. They lost the appeal in the High Court in May 2007, and appealed again to the House of Lords, which was expected to begin considering the case today.
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The tragedy of the commons
01.07.2008 17:55
The people that lived on the Chagos islands were not part of the capitalist system - they did not need 'Copra plantations'. They did not need money. Everything they needed could be fished, farmed, hunted, gathered or bartered. They did not have to pay rent or even 'work'.
It is not going to be easy for the former residents to get their lives back, even if the base was closed. Even if they did get their islands back their culture has been destroyed and things will never be what they were.
It's time for them to change strategy, to work with the wider whole human race in open, fearless revolt against the men that run the military and the arms-trade. Dropping bombs from planes needs to be outlawed and only when that battle is won will they be in with a chance of getting their lives back on track.
The B52's
a bit more info...
01.07.2008 18:44
and here
yachtie
Thank you for posting this
02.07.2008 16:23
Annie Citizen