Britain blinks first | 131 comments (131 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (4.00 / 4)

If they try, the US will decide it's time to bring democracy to Mauritius.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Thu Feb 28th, 2019 at 04:38:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (4.00 / 2)

That has already occurred.
Diego Garcia

Between 1968 and 1973, the population was forcibly removed by the United Kingdom and the United States to establish an American base through intimidation of locals and denying the return of any who left the island.[3] Many were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles, following which the United States built a large naval and military base, which has been in continuous operation since then.[3] As of August 2018, Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island of the BIOT; the population is composed of military personnel and supporting contractors. It is one of two critical US bomber bases in the Asia Pacific region, along with Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Pacific Ocean.[4]

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Feb 28th, 2019 at 07:24:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (4.00 / 2)

The plight of the Chagossians has been ongoing for fifty years:

Mauritius: The Struggle of the Chagossian People

Those who remember the deportations recall being escorted off the islands, forced to leave their belongings behind and shoved onto ships, never to see their home again. "When we were deported, we were taken with a stick at our back, put on a boat" said one man, who was a young boy at the time of the deportations.
"As we were deported, our animals and dogs were killed," said another inhabitant. "And we were taken out of the island like animals ourselves."
The British have kept the story of the islands complex, confusing and hidden from public scrutiny but the fact of the matter is that one of the most powerful known empires has wilfully suppressed the most basic right, the right to land, in the full glare of the international community and international law.

Chagos islanders want to go home

The as yet uninhabited islands were discovered by the Portuguese in 1512, and later passed to the Dutch (1598-1710). Under French rule (1715-1814), the first African slaves were brought to work on coconut plantations. The UK took possession at the end of the Napoleonic wars, and still controls the islands under the name British Indian Ocean Territory. Their incomplete decolonisation is a human tragedy.

by Bernard on Thu Feb 28th, 2019 at 09:09:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (none / 0)

"Next year on Diego Garcia."

by rifek on Sun Mar 10th, 2019 at 12:51:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (4.00 / 3)

○ Claims of secret CIA jail for terror suspects on British island to be investigated | The Guardian - Oct. 2007 |
○ CIA Interrogations Took Place on British Territory of Diego Garcia, Senior Bush Administration Official Says |Reprieve - Jan. 2015 |