A group of Chagossians dedicating a memorial stone to mark their visit to Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos archipelago. A group of islanders were evacuated against their will 50 years ago to make way for the Diego Garcia US military base
THE British government is guilty of historic and ongoing “crimes against humanity” over its treatment of exiled Chagos Islanders, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
In a damning report published today, the group called on Britain to pay full and unconditional reparations to generations affected by the forced displacement of Chagossians from their homeland by Britain in the 1960s and ’70s, as well as the right to return.
Britain agreed to lease the island of Diego Garcia — the largest of the 60 small islands of the Chagos Archipelago — to the US to allow it to build a military base in 1967.
Beatrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse have submitted a UN complaint against Labour’s deal with Mauritius, highlighting how exclusion from ancestral lands is denying their right of return and justice for historical abuses, reports ELIZABETH MISTRY
