Outinleftfield
30th December 2012, 01:02
In 1973 after a bitter intimidation campaign including the gassing of the island residents' dogs the Chagossian people were forcibly evicted from the British Indian Ocean Territory by the British government to make way for an American military base. The American government had and continues to insist that the islands be "depopulated". The Chagossian people were deported to Mauritius where most still live in slums.
The British Foreign Office had portrayed the Chagossians as though they were merely temporary laborers in their reports, but they had been there since 1786 by the French as slaves. In the 1800s it passed from France to Britain.
The Chagossians formed a distinct culture and identity and a distinct French creole language.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagossians
The Chagossians won in the High Court, yet the British government appealed to the Court of Appeals which upheld the decision. Then they appealed to the House of Lords who overturned it.
In 2012 a petition to President Obama to allow them to return was effectively met with a "no" though in more wordy language.
What's weird about this is why is it so important to the United States and United Kingdom that the Chagossians continue to be excluded? The military base is only on one island, Diego Garcia. The 2012 petition didn't even ask to let them back to that island, just the outer islands and yet Obama was unwilling to even do that.
http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/09/wikileaks-outs-chagos-island-conservation-deal/
Wikileaks revealed that creating a protected marine area was essentially done in order to black claims by the Chagossian people.
Letting them back could actually help the US military save money as it does have some civilian staff (Chagossians are specifically excluded) and then they'd be able to hire local people.
So why are the UK and US governments trying so hard to keep these people from going home? Are they doing this just to mean? Are our leaders really that evil that they will do things like this just because they can get away with it?
Moreso, why does the media ignore this issue? Not only that but this is the sort of thing you'd expect to be raised by maverick politicians such as Ron Paul or Barney Frank or Bernie Sanders. But they never do. Nor do the Libertarian and Green Parties.
What's going on here? There has to be some explanation for why 1. This is so important to the UK & US governments and 2. Why not only the mainstream media keeps silent on it, but so do groups that like issues and news that would make the government look bad.
The British Foreign Office had portrayed the Chagossians as though they were merely temporary laborers in their reports, but they had been there since 1786 by the French as slaves. In the 1800s it passed from France to Britain.
The Chagossians formed a distinct culture and identity and a distinct French creole language.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagossians
The Chagossians won in the High Court, yet the British government appealed to the Court of Appeals which upheld the decision. Then they appealed to the House of Lords who overturned it.
In 2012 a petition to President Obama to allow them to return was effectively met with a "no" though in more wordy language.
What's weird about this is why is it so important to the United States and United Kingdom that the Chagossians continue to be excluded? The military base is only on one island, Diego Garcia. The 2012 petition didn't even ask to let them back to that island, just the outer islands and yet Obama was unwilling to even do that.
http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/09/wikileaks-outs-chagos-island-conservation-deal/
Wikileaks revealed that creating a protected marine area was essentially done in order to black claims by the Chagossian people.
Letting them back could actually help the US military save money as it does have some civilian staff (Chagossians are specifically excluded) and then they'd be able to hire local people.
So why are the UK and US governments trying so hard to keep these people from going home? Are they doing this just to mean? Are our leaders really that evil that they will do things like this just because they can get away with it?
Moreso, why does the media ignore this issue? Not only that but this is the sort of thing you'd expect to be raised by maverick politicians such as Ron Paul or Barney Frank or Bernie Sanders. But they never do. Nor do the Libertarian and Green Parties.
What's going on here? There has to be some explanation for why 1. This is so important to the UK & US governments and 2. Why not only the mainstream media keeps silent on it, but so do groups that like issues and news that would make the government look bad.