Chagos shows the shame of British imperialism

Chagos protesters are demanding a say in the fate of their home (Picture: Charlie Kimber)

The stench of British imperialism hangs over Whitehall. Keir Starmer’s government decided last week to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

This came some 55 years after Britain expelled all the islands’ residents and destroyed their lives.

Multiple court rulings and United Nations courts demanded that Britain let the islanders return to their homes. The International Court of Justice previously ruled that the British administration was “unlawful”and must end. But Britain has refused.

It would rather the United States had the islands for a military base and torture camp.

In 1966 Britain’s Labour government deported all the Chagossians—the “Tarzans and Man Fridays” as one Foreign Office official called them.

The US wanted the islands for a military airbase in the Indian Ocean, but it wanted them “swept and sanitised”. Britain was only too happy to help.

Last Thursday’s handover was the latest in a long history of betrayal. The largest island, Diego Garcia, will remain a joint US-British military base for
99 years. No one will be allowed to return to Diego Garcia.

Pascalina Nellan, whose grandmother was born on the island, said the deal amounted to “backstabbing” by the British government.

“Every time we made a request to be heard we have been excluded. We need to respect the rights of indigenous people.”

Frankie Bontemps, a second generation Chagossian, said he felt “betrayed” and “angry” because “we have never been involved” in the negotiations. “We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future.”

The right wing is frothing at the mouth over this “surrender” of one of the last vestiges of the British Empire. Former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson “fears for the Falklands now Starmer has been exposed as a spineless leftie surrenderist fraud”.

Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick said, “It’s taken three months for Starmer to surrender Britain’s strategic interests.”

Tory MP Andrew Griffith hid his racism behind a fake concern for turtles saying, “With the non-existent Mauritian navy over 1,000 miles away, there is no guarantee rare reef species won’t now end up on a Chinese dinner plate.”

The Foreign Office claims the status of the military base—which hosts navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft—will now be undisputed. But Clive Baldwin from Human Rights Watch called for reparations for those displaced.

The Chagossians will keep fighting for justice. Chagossian Voices is planning to protest against the government which has “consistently and deliberately ignored” them.