Human Rights Watch Condemns UK, US Actions on Chagos Islands

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Facts

  • Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused Britain and the US of committing crimes against humanity by forcing the people of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to leave their homes five decades ago to make way for a US Navy base.1
  • The condemnation was made in a 106-page report calling for compensation and an apology to the Chagossians.2
  • The report says that Britain allowed the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia — the largest inhabited island in the Chagos Archipelago, which was considered a British colony — in the 1960s, resulting in the forced removal of the island's inhabitants.3
  • Britain then reportedly separated the Chagos Archipelago from the island of Mauritius — which was negotiating its independence at the time — and removed the remaining Chagossians from the islands.4
  • The UK Foreign Office denied the accusation of crimes against humanity, saying it respected HRW’s work but categorically rejected its characterization of events.2
  • The UN has ruled three times that the UK and US have no sovereignty over the islands and should cede them to Mauritius. However, London and Washington have yet to follow those rulings.5

Sources: 1Associated Press, 2Guardian, 3Washington Post, 4Us news & world report and 5The telegraph.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Human rights watch. The UK and US governments conspired in the 1960s to forcibly remove the islands' inhabitants, in a clear crime against humanity. In addition to the forced displacement, the UK has since prevented Chagossians from returning to their homes. Reparations are the first and minimum step towards righting these wrongs.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Stars and stripes. Diego Garcia is strategically important to the US and UK for regional security. There have been talks over its future between Mauritius, the US, and the UK, and the official lease on the island expires in 2036. Abandoning it earlier would constitute an absolute red line for British and US security interests, as China would fill any vacuum left by a withdrawal.