Chagos Islanders in Mauritius and the UK —— Forced displacement and onward migration

There are many ways to tell this story of the callous treatment of a peaceable people inhabiting a few coral atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Chagos Archipelago was once a remote part of the British colony of Mauritius but in 1965 became British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), the last UK Overseas Territory. The largest island, Diego Garcia, became the first in importance of the USA's string of strategic island military bases. It was American officials who insisted Diego Garcia be swept clean, totally sanitised, and that the Chagossians "absolutely must go". See Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (New in Paper) The story can be told dramatically, as in Adrian Jackson's "A Few Man Fridays", now playing in London, with a historically well-document script A Few Man Fridays ; politically, as in John Pilger's 2004 film "Stealing a Nation" John Pilger Heroes Films 1970 - 2007 - 16-DVD Box Set [Region 2 ]or as an imaginative novel in Peter Benson's "A Lesser Dependency" Lesser Dependency . Laura Jeffery's way is one of the most difficult - academically, but without the distance from its subject, protected by specialist jargon, which that often implies. This is also the most important way to make the story come alive - through the personal and shared reality of a shameless dispossession, forced displacement over more than a generation, mainly to Mauritius; and then, for almost two thousand Chagos-born or their spouses and children, migration to the UK, maintaining their original identity while also forging a new one, centered on the town of Crawley, next to Gatwick airport. The author is a British anthropologist at Edinburgh University and her book is the result of ten years' fieldwork, during which she has become a fluent interpreter between the cultures and languages of English speakers and communities whose first language is Kreol with a Chagossian accent. As she is careful to point out, the shared legacy of loss and injustice is felt differently by Chagossians with differing personal histories and from different generations. It makes a huge difference if you were born in Port Louis of mixed Chagossian/ Mauritian parentage and have since moved to the UK in order to better your prospects of employment; or if you are part of the older, fiercely defiant generation - like Lisette Talate who died on 4 January 2012 - whose childhood and youth were spent wholly on the islands. It is, of course, a terrible irony that those who have the greatest desire to end their days laba - back there - are the least equipped physically to create a new settlement in greatly changed circumstances. For many whose home was on Diego Garcia, rather than Peros Banhos or Salomon, the conditional right of return granted by the English High Court in 2000 - to the outer islands, but not, for defence reasons, to Diego Garcia - was often likely to be less important than access to better conditions in Mauritius or the UK; and proper compensation for past and continuing involuntary exile from both UK and US governments. However, the core of the Chagossians' case has been the principle that a great wrong needs to be righted; and that honest politicians can do just that. The struggle has had many non-Chagossian supporters. But, as this book shows, those who have maintained and sharpened Chagossian identity have been Chagossians. They have made the traditional "coconut-based seraz dishes of chicken, fish or octopus"; and created Chagossian songs and dances (the sega): Over on Diego there are pretty colours, Dan Diego laba, zoli zoli koloriye, I want to return there with all my heart... Mo leker demann turne... This is an academic book and thus expensive. It is, however, essential for any library covering post World War II US politics and foreign affairs. As with Iraq, USA (and UK) politicians lied to their own citizens. This is a book in which Chagossians tell the truth that British and American politicians have never been able to face, with the exceptions of UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who was content with his decision to accept the 2000 High Court verdict. And even Cook did nothing when the new injustice of the UK's 2004 Orders in Council - when he was no longer Foreign Secretary - used racist colonial laws to deny the Chagossians their right of return. These two close wartime allies, the USA and the UK, should hang their heads in shame at this story.

There are many ways to tell this story of the callous treatment of a peaceable people inhabiting a few coral atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Chagos Archipelago was once a remote part of the British colony of Mauritius but in 1965 became British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), the last UK Overseas Territory. The largest island, Diego Garcia, became the first in importance of the USA's string of strategic island military bases. The story can be told dramatically, as in Adrian Jackson's new play "A Few Man Fridays"; politically, as in John Pilger's 2004 film "Stealing a Nation" or as an imaginative novel in Peter Benson's "A Lesser Dependency" (Macmillan 1989, Penguin 1990). Laura Jeffery's way is one of the most difficult - academically, but without the distance from its subject, protected by specialist jargon, which that often implies. This is also the most important way to make the story come alive - through the personal and shared reality of a shameless dispossession, forced displacement over more than a generation, mainly to Mauritius; and then, for almost two thousand Chagos-born or their spouses and children, migration to the UK, maintaining their original identity while also forging a new one, centred on the town of Crawley, next to Gatwick airport. The author is an anthropologist and her book is the result of ten years' fieldwork, during which she has become a fluent interpreter between the cultures and languages of English speakers and communities whose first language is Kreol with a Chagossian accent. As she is careful to point out, the shared legacy of loss and injustice is felt differently by Chagossians with differing personal histories and from different generations. It makes a huge difference if you were born in Port Louis of mixed Chagossian/ Mauritian parentage and have since moved to the UK in order to better your prospects of a decent job; or if you are part of the older, fiercely defiant generation - like Lisette Talate who died on 4 January 2012 - whose childhood and youth were spent wholly on the islands. It is, of course, a terrible irony that those who have the greatest desire to end their days laba - back there - are the least equipped physically to create a new settlement in greatly changed circumstances. For many whose home was on Diego Garcia, rather than Peros Banhos or Salomon, the conditional right of return granted by the High Court in 2000 - to the outer islands, but not, for defence reasons, to Diego Garcia - was often likely to be less important than access to better conditions in Mauritius or the UK; and proper compensation for past and continuing involuntary exile. However, the core of the Chagossians' case has been the principle that a great wrong needs to be righted; and that with honesty on the part of UK ministers it can be. That struggle has had many non-Chagossian supporters. But, as this book shows, those who have maintained and sharpened Chagossian identity have been Chagossians. They have made the traditional "coconut-based seraz dishes of chicken, fish or octopus"; and created Chagossian songs and dances (the sega): Over on Diego there are pretty colours, Dan Diego laba, zoli zoli koloriye, I want to return there with all my heart... Mo leker demann turne... This is an academic book and thus expensive. It is, however, essential for any library covering post World War II British and US politics and foreign affairs. As with Suez and Iraq, UK ministers lied to the UN, lied to Parliament and lied to their own citizens. This is a book in which Chagossians tell the truth that British ministers have never been able to face, with the single exception of Robin Cook. And even he did nothing when the new injustice of the 2004 Orders in Council used racist colonial laws to deny the Chagossians their right of return. Buy, Read and Act.