The UK, once lauded as an empire where the sun never sets, has lost a significant portion of its glory with the eras of decolonisation it passed through. A recent landmark event prompting this recognition was the return of the Chagos Islands in the remote Indian Ocean to Mauritius, concluding a prolonged era of colonial domination and exploitation of Africa. This event cast a long-overdue shadow over the once perpetually sunlit British Empire. With dusk settling on the Pitcairn Islands, anticipation builds for the sun to rise in the further west UK territories.
The UK’s departure from the islands, however, presents a harrowing narrative. Reflective of the way they ruled this sizable yet uninhabited, strategically crucial archipelago, the UK dismissed the emotional repercussions and hopes of the indigenous people who were displaced. Nearly 2,000 islanders were forcibly expelled between the late 1960s and early 1970s, their removal facilitated with minimal remuneration to pave the way for the establishment on Diego Garcia Island of a vital US-UK military base. In exchange for ejecting the inhabitants from their native land and prolonging the leasehold, the British government received a $14 million reduction on the acquisition of Polaris nuclear weapons from the US.
This act of forced displacement has been condemned as a gross violation of human rights. The Chagossians were transported to slums in Mauritius, located 2,000 km away, and to the Seychelles, at a similar distance, with a significant number gradually relocating to the southern English town of Crawley.
Subsequently, the US has invested over $3 billion in constructing docks, an airport, and surveillance facilities to support bombers, submarines, and warships. These facilities were infamously employed to initiate long-distance bombing missions on Afghanistan and Iraq. With China’s escalating naval activity in the region, these facilities remain strategically essential.
The announcement last week allowing first- and second-generation Chagossians to return after years of lobbying, was not any benevolent concession to self-rule; the islanders were not involved in the decision – it was rather a grudging and overdue act. The 2000 UK High Court and the 2019 UN’s International Court of Justice both declared the evictions as illegal and the occupation respectively. Also in 2019, a motion stating the islands should be handed back to Mauritius was supported by the UN general assembly by a landslide (116 to 6).
The recent Labour government, exhibiting the same dismissive and tone-deaf approach to Britain’s colonial past as the Conservatives consistently have, adds another historical blunder by committing another.
The UK, after 13 rounds of negotiations, will hand sovereignty back to their former dominion, Mauritius, while keeping a lease for the US base until 2090. Returning to the island won’t be feasible before then, except for a selected few hired to work on the base.
A lot of Chagossians do not perceive Mauritius as an impartial protector of their rights; a good number desired self-governance. Over the years, the UK by classifying Chagos inhabitants as ‘contract labourers’, rather than permanent dwellers, was able to uphold a legal illusion that they weren’t obligated to give account of their handling to the UN decolonisation committee, nor form any self-rule system. An insulting 1966 Foreign Office memo described the locals just as ‘a few exceptional individuals of uncertain origin’.
Actually, the archipelago, which consists of 55 islands situated midway between East Africa and Indonesia, was inhabited in the 16th century by the Dutch, they brought slaves to manage coconut plantations. The French ruled next until 1814, when they yielded the islands to the British per the Paris peace treaty. Slavery was abolished, and the ‘Ilois’ or islanders remained, mainly engaged in farming or fishing.
In 1965, the Chagos Islands were officially named the British Indian Ocean Territory and when Mauritius, to which they were officially tied, became independent three years later, the UK continued to control the islands.
In an unfortunate state of affairs, 60 Tamil refugees have been stranded under dire conditions on Diego Garcia for three years. They had hoped to reach Canada after setting off in a boat from the south of India, and are now waiting for a court ruling to determine if they have been unlawfully detained.
The recent acts of the present Labour government, displaying similar indifference and superiority toward Britain’s colonial history as the Tories, is a reflection of repeating past mistakes. The Chagossians may be in a better position now, but as always, the aspirations of the colonised are disregarded.
Other individuals once under colonial rule, seeking independence from their so-called benevolent former rulers, or those such as the Falkland and Gibraltar residents wanting to uphold this connection, must realise that ultimately, it’s reasons of state that decide their destiny. It’s a lesson that Brexit discord continues to amplify – that to UK diplomacy, international law and opinion are inconsequential. Britain seems to be disregarding the rules.