Siah
20-03-05, 09:29
Chagossians reclaim our land:
people evicted by the UK,
land leased to the US military
Chagos is an Archipelago in the Indian Ocean administered by the British government. Between 1965 and 1973, the UK and US, with the complicity of Mauritius, evicted 5000 Chagossian people from Chagos islands (including Diego Garcia) to make way for the biggest US nuclear/military base outside the US.
The British government leases the Chagos Archipelago to the US for at least $2 billions a year and other concessions - e.g. £5 million owed to the US for the Polaris nuclear missile was waived. The US military is increasing the pressure to stop us from returning and reclaiming our home.
We have been organising for the right to return to our native land and for financial compensation for what we have suffered: for the crime of forced deportation, the theft and destruction of our livelihood and property, and the attempt to wipe out our identity and our culture.
To justify our deportation, the UK government lied to the United Nations, claiming that Chagossians were temporary workers from the Seychelles and Mauritius. It took 30 years to get the UN to recognise that we are Native people, living on these islands since 1776 - when the French brought our ancestors there as slaves.
A strategic military base
Diego Garcia, the biggest inhabited island, was key as a refuelling base during the 1991 Gulf War and the current war against Iraq. It served as a base for B-52 bombers. The US also used Diego Garcia to launch bomb attacks against Afghanistan. Currently, a number of al-Qaeda suspects are being held and interrogated on the island. The base is also critical because it serves the other US bases in Africa, Middle-East and South-East Asia. The US has plans to expand their base.
vervolg (http://www.refusingtokill.net/Chagos/chagos.htm)
people evicted by the UK,
land leased to the US military
Chagos is an Archipelago in the Indian Ocean administered by the British government. Between 1965 and 1973, the UK and US, with the complicity of Mauritius, evicted 5000 Chagossian people from Chagos islands (including Diego Garcia) to make way for the biggest US nuclear/military base outside the US.
The British government leases the Chagos Archipelago to the US for at least $2 billions a year and other concessions - e.g. £5 million owed to the US for the Polaris nuclear missile was waived. The US military is increasing the pressure to stop us from returning and reclaiming our home.
We have been organising for the right to return to our native land and for financial compensation for what we have suffered: for the crime of forced deportation, the theft and destruction of our livelihood and property, and the attempt to wipe out our identity and our culture.
To justify our deportation, the UK government lied to the United Nations, claiming that Chagossians were temporary workers from the Seychelles and Mauritius. It took 30 years to get the UN to recognise that we are Native people, living on these islands since 1776 - when the French brought our ancestors there as slaves.
A strategic military base
Diego Garcia, the biggest inhabited island, was key as a refuelling base during the 1991 Gulf War and the current war against Iraq. It served as a base for B-52 bombers. The US also used Diego Garcia to launch bomb attacks against Afghanistan. Currently, a number of al-Qaeda suspects are being held and interrogated on the island. The base is also critical because it serves the other US bases in Africa, Middle-East and South-East Asia. The US has plans to expand their base.
vervolg (http://www.refusingtokill.net/Chagos/chagos.htm)