UK, US Broke Human-Rights Laws With Island Evictions, HRW Says

Antony Sguazzin
·3 min read
8

(Bloomberg) -- The UK and US breached human-rights laws by evicting the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to make way for an American airforce base and denying them the right to return, Human Rights Watch said.

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In a 145-page report released on Wednesday entitled “That’s When the Nightmare Started:” UK and US Forced Displacement of the Chagossians and Ongoing Colonial Crimes, the New York-based organization lays out its argument for reparations and apologies from the two nations.

Using documents and testimony from 57 interviewees, Human Rights Watch describes how Chagossians weren’t allowed to return to their homes after temporary trips abroad and those on the island were intimidated into leaving with methods that included the shooting, poisoning and gassing of their pet dogs.

The UK separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius into a colony in 1965. Eight years later, an American airforce base was set up on Diego Garcia island that has been used in military campaigns in the Middle East and Afghanistan. About 1,360 Chagossians were forced to leave that island and two others. Most ended up in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles, where they suffered discrimination and were given little financial assistance to rebuild their lives, HRW said.

“The forced displacement of the Chagossians and ongoing abuses amount to crimes against humanity committed by a colonial power against an indigenous people,” HRW said. “UK colonial rule in the Chagos Archipelago, unlike in most of its other colonies in Africa, did not end in the 1960s, and it has continued at extraordinary cost to the people of Chagos.”

The US was complicit in the crimes as the Chagossians were moved to make way for the base under an agreement with the UK, HRW said. Chagos now forms part of the British Indian Ocean Territory that is controlled by Britain.

“The UK has made clear its deep regret” about the evictions, the British government said in a letter to HRW. Britain categorically rejects HRW’s characterisation of events in Chagos, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in an emailed response to a request for comment sent by Bloomberg.

Support Package

“We remain committed to supporting Chagossians including through a significant support package and our new British citizenship route for Chagossians launched last November,” the FCDO said.

The US said to HRW that “it acknowledges the challenges faced by Chagossian communities” and said it’s committed to the “promotion of human rights,” in its response to HRW. The State Department didn’t immediately provide further comment in response to a request by Bloomberg.

Mauritius told HRW the removals “could amount to a crime against humanity” and that the UK owes the Chagossians reparations. Mauritius began negotiations with the UK in November over the sovereignty of the islands and wants the UK to pay for their resettlement. The International Court of Justice in 2019 ruled that the UK’s takeover of the islands in 1965 was unlawful.

Seychelles supports Mauritius’s position on the Chagos Islands, but hasn’t had sight of the HRW report so it can’t comment further, the archipelago’s foreign ministry said in a response to queries.

Hunger Strike

Any reparations would add to £650,000 ($786,000) the UK gave Mauritius in 1973 to pay as total compensation to the Chagossians. The payout was only made four years later after a hunger strike by Chagossian women, HRW said. Small additional payments were made at later dates, HRW said.

The Chagossians were brought to the archipelago, initially by the French, as slaves to work on coconut plantations from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations starting in the late 18th century. Over time, they developed their own creole language and customs, becoming a “distinct people and community,” HRW said. The UK, at the time of removal, maintained that the people on the islands were merely contract workers and had no right of abode.

The majority of those interviewed expressed a desire to return to the island, HRW said.

--With assistance from Joe Mayes and Kamlesh Bhuckory.

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