If slavery was too long ago to affect you..how about this ?

The explanation by Davidhs is concise and factual.

However, it is not written in capitals so some may have missed it.

Merylstreep and lemongrove the plight of the African Workers* in Spain is dreadful. I have close ties to Spain but I avoid all veggies and salad products ^marked produced in Spain

Fortunately most fresh produce sold in markets in Spain is produced by local small holders as the Polytunnel produce is for export to EU Countries.

This is much more complex than you present it Paddyanne. I have spent an interesting hour reading up on it and I am sure I could have spent longer. I don’t think it’s about being black.

The Chagos archipelago was originally uninhabited until the French established a small colony which included some slaves. The British acquired it following the Treaty of Paris in 1814. Slavery was abolished by us on the island in 1834. Plantations were owned by absentee landlords who provided those living on the islands with work, shelter and a wage. Thus although the Chagosians were not indigenous and were not originally called that as they were joined by different peoples who came to work there, some of them had been there for some time and came to regard it as home.

When Mauritius sought independence from Britain in the 1960’spart of the deal was to ‘sell’ Chagos to the British for £600,000. It is doubtful if the Chagosians received any of that.
Britain then wanted the people to leave the island so that it could be leased to the US to build an airbase for defence.

Some people left the island ‘voluntarily’ when the plantation closed and there was no work for them. Others accepted offers of British citizenship and a few were forcibly evicted.

There are a lot of Chagosians living in Crawley in England. Some of them have been back to the Island but say the Island is now dominated by the giant US airbase and there has been some flooding by rising sea levels. They also didn’t want the Mauritians handing it over to China or India. It is sad for former residents who would like to be buried there.

The ones you should be rooting for are the ones not born in the right timescale living in this country who can’t get British citizenship.

I was going to say that there have been threads, or at least posts, about this before because I remember reading up about it then.
With all that us happening in the world, particularly now in Syria, Yemen and other places and with the virus hitting most of the world, I confess that it was not something I had thought about recently.

paddyanne
Shouting at people does not encourage a reasonable response, though, does it!

Of course, we mustn't forget, either, that the Scots were avid colonialists and slave traders, not just the English.

Yes, I agree Meryl I recently saw an travel documentary that highlighted the plight of African migrants used in the polytunnels and it really was slave labour, appalling conditions and treatment by the owners.

On a forum thread it’s better to talk normally than to yell in faces.
Paddy has lot of ‘passions’ mostly about how evil Westminster is.

Slavery is alive and well operating just 2 1/2 hours by plane from the uk: in the poly tunnels in Spain.

Only in bed Alexa

But good manners might stifle passion, and often do.

.....or perhaps not.

MaizieD

Let's just forget the point that Paddyanne is making and attack her manners and her inaccurate terminology instead. Far more interesting than the way that the 'ruling race' mentality still persists and affects black lives.

I think we are able to address the point and do it with a modicum of good manners to posters.

Alexa

Lemongrove wrote:

"OP’s on a thread can be done with good manners Alexa ".

But it's bad manners to lack any passion about something like slavery. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

True.....except there is no slavery involved here.

Let's just forget the point that Paddyanne is making and attack her manners and her inaccurate terminology instead. Far more interesting than the way that the 'ruling race' mentality still persists and affects black lives.

This is not Slavery!

Slavery is very much alive in many African Countries and Arab States. Along with the trafficking of young girls and boys from Eastern Europe for the sex trade!!

the British government really couldn't care less about Black communities.

That's where the connection with slavery comes in. It was abominable a few hundred years ago that any race thought that they had the right to radically interfere in the lives of other races, to dispossess them of their homes and send them wherever was convenient to the 'master race'. Despite the hoo haa and self congratulations over abolition of slavery, treating people like pawns in this way is still happening.

BLM isn't just about the taking of black lives, it's about how they live, too.

Lemongrove wrote:

"OP’s on a thread can be done with good manners Alexa ".

But it's bad manners to lack any passion about something like slavery. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

Why do you always shout Paddy ?
Where did I say it ‘was ok’ ? I said that it wasn’t slavery.
It was done in the 1960’s. Did you read the account upthread by Davidhs ?
The UK, the US and Mauritius will between themselves have to sort this out.If the islanders cannot support themselves there however, they are unlikely to do well by returning, but it would be nice if they were allowed the choice.
Now.....do you think you can discuss this without all the aggression?

There is a photograph of a group of the islandersoutside the High Court in London last years ..so YES they do want to go HOME .Add the Windrush people to this mix an dsee that the British government really couldn't care less about Black communities.Re settlement when FORCED on people is OK is it Lemongrove? So if Bojo decided he wants the area you live in and evicts you and all your relatives sending you to somewhere you have no history or knowledge of the lifestyle ...you'll be happy to do it .Because resettlement is different?

Enlighten me please ? Why in this day and age does britain even have the power to do this to people and countries thousands of miles away The Empire is long gone ,the mentality that supported it sadly not

OP’s on a thread can be done with good manners Alexa as can subsequent posts.
It was a deliberate and aggressive opening post in my view, although it didn’t surprise me.
I knew about the situation on Chagos from years ago, and it was very sad that people were moved from there.
It can’t be compared to slavery though, it was re-settlement,
However wrong that was it isn’t the same at all.

Davidhs excellent timeline and explanation of current situation.

Lemongrove if that is rudeness I am happy to be forced on to my back foot if that challenges me to be better informed.

Do you think grans are too feeble to be challenged? Or are you a stickler for twee language?

Good post giving the full details davidhs I was aware of this ( from some time ago) but thanks for giving the info.
I doubt many if any present day Chagosians will want to return there.
Paddyanne writing ‘ dear slave trade excusers’ to other GNers is beyond rude.

There was a BBC radio programme about this not too long ago. Many people still wanted to return.

I’ve been following this since 1968!

A lot of the islanders used to live in Southampton, not sure where they are now.

Chagos Islands had no resident population until around 1800 Initially using slave workers, later migrant workers, plantations were established by various companies, however they were never economically sustainable without outside resources.

Administration eventually fell to Mauritus but the islands were owned by a French company which was itself bought by UK and BIOT was created. The US wanted a secure air and naval base in the Indian Ocean in the Cold War and Diego Garcia militarized and a large airbase built.

Currently the US still want the facilities and independent Mauritius disputes ownership.

IF the US gives up Diego Garcia there is no reason that the population cannot return, BUT, they will never be self sufficient without outside help, they are just too remote to sustain tourism, schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Don’t shed too many tears for Mauritus having to support the Chagos population they receive a great deal of foreign aid from the US as well as UK, so cash is not an issue.
No doubt Chagosians will be able return to their homeland at some stage in the future if they want to, until then the politicking will continue.