Britain gives up Chagos Islands

My post wasn't directed at you. Read the thread.

Wyllow3 I heard on the radio today that the story that the US wanted the island "cleared" was not true.
It was apparently us.

I haven't fact checked.

The process of returning it was started by James Cleverly in 2022

growstuff

My post wasn't directed at you. Read the thread.

Might be a good idea to indicate who your remarks/answers are intended for, in order to avoid confusion.

Hi not Spaghetti, I'm relying solely on the the Sky article I quoted at the beginning of the thread given that it all new to me.

" In the late 1960s, the US asked the UK to expel everyone from the archipelago so they could build a naval support facility on the largest island, Diego Garcia. It is leased to the US but operates as a joint UK-US base".

GrannyGravy13

growstuff

My post wasn't directed at you. Read the thread.

Might be a good idea to indicate who your remarks/answers are intended for, in order to avoid confusion.

Hmmmppphhh! So I didn't use the quote facility. Some people complain that it's used too often and moan - I guess you just can't win. At the time, it must have seemed obvious to me which post I was responding to. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Grandmabatty

The process of returning it was started by James Cleverly in 2022

Exactly! And now he's accusing Starmer of being weak! I think that's why it's become headline news. Cleverly is having a go at Labour for something he started himself as part of his "strongman" leadership bid. Does he have some kind of problem with his memory?

It’s difficult sometimes, I thought you meant me as your post was immediately after mine.

growstuff

Grandmabatty

The process of returning it was started by James Cleverly in 2022

Exactly! And now he's accusing Starmer of being weak! I think that's why it's become headline news. Cleverly is having a go at Labour for something he started himself as part of his "strongman" leadership bid. Does he have some kind of problem with his memory?

Grant Schapps has said he blocked Cleverly’s plan 🤷‍♀️

GrannyGravy13

It’s difficult sometimes, I thought you meant me as your post was immediately after mine.

Look at the timings of your post and the one immediately preceding yours. At the time I started my post, I hadn't seen yours and was responding to the one before yours.

GrannyGravy13

growstuff

Grandmabatty

The process of returning it was started by James Cleverly in 2022

Exactly! And now he's accusing Starmer of being weak! I think that's why it's become headline news. Cleverly is having a go at Labour for something he started himself as part of his "strongman" leadership bid. Does he have some kind of problem with his memory?

Grant Schapps has said he blocked Cleverly’s plan 🤷‍♀️

Oh gawd! What a united front!

Why are they whining about us giving the land back to the people they expelled "weakened" us when the military remain when they were forced to move so unjustly?.

This issue should have been debated in Parliament, not taken (by whom) when parliament is in recess.

eazybee

This issue should have been debated in Parliament, not taken (by whom) when parliament is in recess.

Totally agree 👍

Wyllow3

Why are they whining about us giving the land back to the people they expelled "weakened" us when the military remain when they were forced to move so unjustly?.

It's sovrintee, i'nit?

They can't bear to see the last dregs of the Empire slipping away. Having made the UK an international laughing stock by pulling it out of the EU the Right has to cling to the tattered remnants of past glory to prove that the UK is still Something in international politics.

eazybee

This issue should have been debated in Parliament, not taken (by whom) when parliament is in recess.

Why?

Negotiations have been going on for 2 years. There was clearly a decision, in principle, made to return the islands to Mauritius, otherwise there wouldn't have been any negotiations. It seems to me that the Foreign Sec. has just signed off on the culmination of an ongoing process.

What would have been the point in hanging on to them?

There was no parliamentary debate when the UK took over the islands

About 60 years ago, the United Kingdom government secretly planned with the United States, to force an entire Indigenous people, the Chagossians, from their homes in the Chagos Archipelago.

The Indian Ocean islands were part of Mauritius, then a UK colony. The two governments agreed that a US military base would be built on Diego Garcia, the largest of the inhabited Chagos islands, and the island’s inhabitants would be removed. The UK government split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, creating a new colony in Africa, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

So that it would not have to report to the United Nations about its continued colonial rule, the UK falsely declared that Chagos had no permanent population.

read more on how it took place, attitudes etc

www.hrw.org/report/2023/02/15/thats-when-nightmare-started/uk-and-us-forced-displacement-chagossians-and

why should therefore there be a parliamentary debate about allowing the population to return

I am not widely read on the subject but did Mauritius ever actually own the Chagos Islands? Isn’t China gaining influence in Mauritius?

Done some digging: (wiki)

"The UK, which has controlled the region since 1814, detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius – a former colony that became independent three years later – to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The UK then, as said above, removed the Chagos islanders to Mauritius.

The main concern really for the US and the UK is keeping the Diego Garcia military base, which they have.

Despite all the screaming by the Tories and Farage about China, etc., the US approves of the new arrangement.

There has been a population of some Chinese (mainly via Hong Kong, another British colony, since the late 18th century.

What is the main ethnicity in Mauritius? (wiki)
Ethnic groups: Indo-Mauritians 68%, Creoles 27%,

Sino-Mauritians 3%

Franco-Mauritians 2%. Religions: Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%. Languages: Creole (common), French, English (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri.

Thank you Wyllow. It will be interesting to see how many islanders wish to return.

Yes, I won't quote the long Biden quote but basically its 100% no reservations.

It will, lulluaugust. There are statements from those who wish to return to ancestral home, but its a wait and see?

Thanks for the results of your digging, Wyllow

(I'm intrigued by the sudden interest being shown in Parliamentary process)