Ministers must prove the UK is serious about recognising the damage done to Chagossians
Chagossians Whitney Tranquille, centre, at a protest outside Parliament, October 2024 (Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung, file)
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It’s a matter of national security – the land has to be cleansed of its population. It began with limiting movement and making the area increasingly unliveable; it ended with rounding up people, gassing pets, and forced deportation to a land of another language, culture and history.
The Foreign Office said no “Tarzans”, no “man Fridays” should prevent the building of the base. The islands were too perfectly located, the discount on Polaris too good to lose. Why worry about a few thousand people of a different colour, speaking a different language?
Still, it wasn’t a good look. Official documents were clear: under no circumstances should anything suggest a native connection to the islands; they must only be referred to as Mauritian or Seychellois. That way, it’s not ethnic cleansing – it’s sending Mauritian labourers home.
For all the disgust over what happened under Labour and Conservative governments 60 years ago, I don’t believe a formal apology has ever been issued. How could it? If you acknowledge what was done was wrong, surely you must make amends. And the Chagossians can’t be allowed to return – it’s a matter of national security, the islands are perfectly located, there’s only a few thousand of them.
If there’s an ethical difference between forced deportations and denying a right to return, it’s beyond my ability to see it. I don’t doubt ministers are sincere that the deal with Mauritius is the best option for national security, but I cannot accept that convenience of a location overrides the right to self-determination.
The deal grants Mauritius the ability to resettle the islands – not the island most Chagossians originate from – and it gives Mauritius control of a new trust fund. For Chagossians, it offers hope, not guarantees.
Written questions prove there is no agreement on any of the provisions necessary to ensure a viable Chagossian return, most significantly the 10-year sentence any Chagossian with British citizenship potentially faces if they return to the islands. Following decades of anti-Chagossian discrimination, it’s all in the hands of the Mauritian government.
The deed is done, and Parliament can only delay, not override it. But there is still much that ministers can do to improve Chagossian lives. We must press Mauritius to end anti-Chagossian discrimination, honour the trust fund’s intended purpose and use the resettlement opportunity to address Chagossian poverty, and repeal the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2021, which prevents British Chagossians from returning.
At home, Chagossians claiming British citizenship receive none of the support available to refugees or those under official resettlement schemes, actively preventing most from exercising their right and meaning many in the UK are in poverty. A further 7,000 Chagossians have started the process of relocating to the UK, which would mean the majority of the global population would live here. For all the lip-service about supporting Chagossians in the UK, such support is hard to identify, not least when planes full of Chagossians began landing in the UK last May. It’s time for actions to match words.
One major step towards proving the country is serious about recognising the damage done to the Chagossian people would be supporting their efforts to establish a community facility, where Chagossians will not only be able to access advice and support but also have a chance at preserving their intangible cultural heritage.
The elders are dying, their people were scattered, attempts at cultural erasure in Mauritius left generations without knowledge of their people. The next few years will decide whether their unique culture will survive or disappear forever. If the UK is to salvage any form of redemption for the ongoing damage to their people, we can find it here.
Peter Lamb is Labour MP for Crawley
