The European Tribune is a forum for thoughtful dialogue of European and international issues. You are invited to post comments and your own articles.
Please REGISTER to post.
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]
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.
"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.
Related reading from the diaries ...
○ CIA Black Prison on British Territory by Londonbear @EuroTrib on Dec. 4, 2005 ○ Chagos Islanders Win Right of Return by Londonbear @BooMan on May 23, 2007
○ United Kingdom: Security Nassau meeting PM Harold Macmillan and President Kennedy, 1962-1963 | JFK Library |
The as yet uninhabited [sic] islands were discovered ...
Can we agree, that's sort of a Freudian slip by editors of more glorious chronicles? Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Oui - Dec 4 29 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 1 4 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 27 68 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 23 37 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 20 65 comments
by Oui - Nov 21 2 comments
by ATinNM - Nov 13 5 comments
by Oui - Nov 15 9 comments
by Oui - Dec 429 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 14 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 2768 comments
by gmoke - Nov 26
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 2337 comments
by Oui - Nov 212 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 2065 comments
by Oui - Nov 159 comments
by ATinNM - Nov 135 comments
by Oui - Nov 134 comments
by Oui - Nov 124 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 10115 comments
by Oui - Nov 87 comments
by IdiotSavant - Nov 818 comments
by gmoke - Nov 8
by Oui - Nov 428 comments
by Oui - Oct 2916 comments