Monday 13 September 2010

Write to your MP asking them to join the Chagos Islands APPG


[Insert your address]

[Insert your MP’s name] MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

[Insert date]

Dear [insert name] MP,

As one of your constituents, I would like to draw your attention to the human rights abuses which the Chagos Islanders have suffered since their enforced exile in the early seventies. I would also like to ask for your support in speaking up for their rights and joining the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group.

Between 1968 and 1973. the native population of the Chagos Islands, the British Indian Ocean Territory, was deported in order to allow the construction of a US military base on Diego Garcia. The 1,800 islanders were sent to Mauritius or the Seychelles where they remain today, many still living in poverty. From 2002 Chagossians were allowed to settle in the UK, and many have done so but they still want their right to return to their homeland. This appalling act was committed under Harold Wilson’s government but the abuse of the Chagossians’ rights has continued throughout successive Governments and has not yet been addressed by the Coalition Government.

I find it inexcusable that the British Government has, for more than 40 years, been implicit in this abuse of fundamental human rights. From their exile, to the sparing compensation they received for resettlement which was quickly dissipated, to the recent Marine Protected Area designation that would deny them their principal means of livelihood if they were to return, I urge you to add your voice to the call on this government finally to bring an end to their suffering.

One of the ways of showing your support is by joining the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group . The group provides a forum for you to raise awareness of the Chagossians’ plight and to further examine the barriers to their resettlement. The APPG Co-ordinator, David Snoxell, can be contacted at snoxells@btinternet.com. I hope I and the Chagossian community can count on your support.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your organisation (if applicable)]

Thursday 2 September 2010

Our petition: Let the Chagos Islanders return home


"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to revoke the Orders in Council and make provision in the current MPA proposal that will allow the Chagos Islanders to return to their homeland."

Please sign our petition now by clicking here.

Thursday 19 August 2010

Responses: Diane Abbott


Dear Kieran

Thank you for emailing us regarding the situation surrounding the right of return for native Chagossians.

As you may know, Diane is a massive campaigner on human rights. On hearing about the Chagossians plight Diane was not hesitant to criticise her own Government, including the then Foreign Secretary David Miliband about the the dishonest and deceitful way they and the US authorities had treated the Chagossians. Diane was in fact the only one of the current leadership candidates to speak out and challenge her Government, in public or private, about the injustices surrounding the Chagos Islands and its indigenous people.

Diane has written many times to Ministers on this issue and attended a debate in April to question the then Foreign Minister for Europe Chris Bryant. Diane is also a member of the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group and tabled an EDM in March, which read:

That this House believes that the interests of the Chagossian people and of Mauritius must be fully protected in the proposed Marine Protected Area; urges the Government to withdraw its case from the European Court of Human Rights and to settle out of court, as already suggested by the Court; and requests the Prime Minister to engage with Mauritius and the Chagossians, before the general election, in order to initiate discussion on an overall settlement of the issues, including timetable for eventual transfer of sovereignty of the Outer Islands to Mauritius and provision for a limited settlement on the Outer Islands.

Diane is committed to seeing the people of the Chagos Islands gain the right to return to their Native Homeland. Should she be elected as Leader of the Labour party, she would certainly campaign vigorously for the cessation of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and the right of return for all native Chagossians..

Thank you once again for your email highlighting this issue. Hopefully this answer will be sufficient but if not please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Regards

Diane 4 Leader Campaign Team

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Thanks to everyone who signed:

Diane Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband, Ed Miliband,

Since launching Labour Friends of Chagos Islanders in the past month, there has been a great interest and support for the cause from members of our Party. Through promoting the injustice of the Chagossians, one unanimous message has emerged from members: right the wrong.

We’ve had four decades to right the wrong that began in Harold Wilson’s first administration and with the exception of Robin Cook’s decision in 2000 to allow the right of return to the outer islands (subsequently reversed by Jack Straw less than four years later) we have consistently failed to defend their human rights.

Whilst we welcome the last government’s intention to conserve the Chagos archipelago, the proposals we made for a Marine Protected Area were unacceptable as they erected a barrier to the right to return and unworkable as Mauritius, who stands to inherit sovereignty in the future, will not consent to these proposals if the right to return is not dealt with.

As our party is now in a time of renewal, now is a better time than any to at last make amends for our disastrous policy on Chagos and to deliver justice for the Chagossians. So our question to you, as candidates for the leadership of our party is:

Will you, if elected leader of the Labour Party, campaign for provisions to be made in the current Marine Protected Area proposals that allow the Chagossians the right to return?

Signed:

Kieran Roberts
Director, Labour Friends of Chagos Islanders

Celia Whittaker
Sylvia Boyes
Marcus Booth
UK Chagos Support Association

Glenis Willmott MEP (Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party)
Tony Lloyd MP
Kate Hoey MP
John McDonnell MP
Katy Clark MP
Madeleine Moon MP
John Grogan (former MP)
Baroness Janet Whitaker

Tony Shelton
Jim Bloomer
Brenda Warbuton
Amnesty International


Valerie Hargreaves
Jonathan Todd
Clare Regan
Robin Yates
Anneli Bray
Tom Scholes-Fogg
Tom Miller
Richard James
Mary Watson
Claire French
Jim Barker
Charlie Haigh
Rae Cross
Kathy Cross
Penny Henderson
Richard Thompson
Tony Rothwell
Paul Braithwaite
Jim Ring
Eammon O’Brien
Jean Garriock
Maureen Watson
Marilyn Molloy
Dave Cope
Virginia Branney
Louise Barker


Sunday 25 July 2010

The Chagossian history.

Recently, my conversations with Labour party members have transformed solely in to yet more opportunities to preach the 40 year plight of the Chagossians and how at fault our party has been and still is. This sordid tale, remarkably, is unknown to most of the people I’ve been speaking to (as it was to me a few months ago) but after sharing the history, there is unanimous support for their cause and dismay at our policy that has caused a four decade long abuse of human rights. So here’s the story:

In the early 1960′s, the US government, concerned about Soviet expansion in the Indian Ocean, asked the British government to find an uninhabited island where the US could build a naval base. Returning the favour, the US would be willing to give $14 million in research and development fees for Britain’s Polaris missile program. The first island located was Aldabra, near Madagascar. Aldabra fitted the bill in terms of it’s location and vitally it was uninhabited. However, the island was a breeding ground for a rare species of tortoise and their mating habits may have been affected by a military base. Looking for an alternative, the US decided on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago. This had the benefit of leaving tortoise mating undisturbed but the island was home to 1,800 Chagossians, or Ilois, who had inhabited the islands for over 200 years. The Chagossians were employed, grew their own food and fished and had built their own stores and a church. However, the courtesy for tortoises evidently didn’t apply to human beings. The government soon began a campaign to deal with the “population problem” to “maintain the pretense there [are] no permanent inhabitants.” This appalling attitude persisted and rather than seeing Diego Garcia as the society it was, it was regarded as a nuisance, summed up by the British diplomat Dennis Greenhill who said: “unfortunately along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Man Fridays whose origins are obscure and who are hopefully being wished on to Mauritius.”

They were “wished on to Mauritius”, as well as the Seychelles and the UK. This began in 1968 when residents who left Diego Garcia merely to visit Mauritius were refused return to the island. They were stranded in Mauritius, without any assistance in resettling or any compensation. To this day, the Chagossians in Mauritius still live in poverty. Soon after, the Americans began to arrive and the rest of the indigenous population were forced to leave. Only allowed to take clothes, their homes and possessions had to be abandoned and their pets were killed amidst threats that if they did not leave, they would otherwise be “bombed” and wouldn’t “be fed any longer.” All this was with the full knowledge and approval of Harold Wilson, Roy Jenkins and Denis Healey.

The inhumane treatment was compounded by the compensation later given to the Mauritius government. The £1.4 million only covered the debts incurred from resettlement and when it was dealt out to 595 Chagossian families, it was years later and significantly reduced by inflation. Another £6 million was paid in compensation but when the Chagossians claimed for it, they were required to endorse a renunciation form, written in English though they speak Creole, that forfeited their right to return home. This wasn’t even translated for them.

Injustice after injustice, finally in 2000 it was ruled that the forced removal was illegal and the right to return to the outer Chagos Islands was returned. This slight progress was then reneged when Jack Straw issued two Orders in Council in 2004 and the right to return was take away again. Even as soon as April this year, the Foreign Office proposed plans for a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago that erects a barrier to any return to the islands. The outright dismissal of their rights continues.

That’s the story. Tragic, inhumane and unlawful. We desperately have to make amends and the best place to begin is by changing our policy on Chagos and campaigning for their right to return. To achieve this, we need your support.

Thursday 22 July 2010

Our open letter to the Labour leadership candidates.

Diane Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband, Ed Miliband,

Since launching Labour Friends of Chagos Islanders in the past month, there has been a great interest and support for the cause from members of our Party. Through promoting the injustice of the Chagossians, one unanimous message has emerged from members: right the wrong.

We’ve had four decades to right the wrong that began in Harold Wilson’s first administration and with the exception of Robin Cook’s decision in 2000 to allow the right of return to the outer islands (subsequently reversed by Jack Straw less than four years later) we have consistently failed to defend their human rights.

Whilst we welcome the last government’s intention to conserve the Chagos archipelago, the proposals we made for a Marine Protected Area were unacceptable as they erected a barrier to the right to return and unworkable as Mauritius, who stands to inherit sovereignty in the future, will not consent to these proposals if the right to return is not dealt with.

As our party is now in a time of renewal, now is a better time than any to at last make amends for our disastrous policy on Chagos and to deliver justice for the Chagossians. So our question to you, as candidates for the leadership of our party is:

Will you, if elected leader of the Labour Party, campaign for provisions to be made in the current Marine Protected Area proposals that allow the Chagossians the right to return?

***

We need as many co-signatories as possible. If you would like to add your name, please either leave a comment or email kieranlroberts@gmail.com.

Thanks.

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Our introduction on LabourList.

We're pleased that LabourList has recently posted a blog to promote our campaign. To read the blog, click here.

Thursday 10 June 2010

Our aim.

In 1971, Harold Wilson’s government exiled the indigenous people of the Chagos Islands to make way for a US military base on one of the islands, Diego Garcia. Since then return of the Chagossians has been blocked. This 40-year long breach of human rights has been of Labour’s making, although Robin Cook did restore the right of return in November 2000. But in June 2004 the FCO overturned Cook's decision and banned the Chagossians from returning.

In April 2010, one of the last acts of the Labour government was to establish a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Islands erecting a potential barrier to resettlement. But for the legitimacy and viability of the MPA, the right to return must be restored; conservation and human rights go hand in hand.

Now, Labour Friends of Chagos Islanders campaigns for justice; the restoration of the Chagos islanders' right to return and for a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago that makes provision for resettlement. It does so with all interested parties, including Chagossian groups and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Chagos Islands.