CHAGOS NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2014
PARLIAMENT
The Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group will
hold its 41st meeting on 26th February 2014. Due to the Parliamentary recess we only have
one written question, from the Crossbencher Lord Luce, to bring you up to date with this month:
“what steps they are
taking, in respect of public documents for which the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office is responsible, to meet their commitment to reduce the
period of retention from 30 to 20 years; and
when they expect to
release to the National Archives documents relating to Mauritius and the
British Indian Ocean Territory for years later than 1980.”
This was answered on the 15th January by the
Conservatives’ Baroness Warsi:
“The Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO), like all Government departments, is required to
achieve the release of its records at the 20-year mark by transferring two
years’ of selected records to the National Archives (TNA) over every year
of the transitional period (2013-2022).
Work on the release of colonial administration files over the 2011-2013 period has regrettably caused a backlog in the regular annual transfer of FCO departmental files to TNA. The colonial files project was completed in November 2013 and we have now deployed all of our file transfer resources onto annual release. We publish the order in which we will be transferring files to the TNA on our website at: www.gov.uk/archive-records.
FCO departmental files relating to Mauritius and the British Indian Ocean Territory form part of the FCO 31 class (Eastern Africa) at TNA. We expect 1981 and 1982 FCO 31 files to transfer to the TNA later this year following which the TNA will require a further period to prepare the files for public release. We are working closely with the TNA on the transfer of files in the FCO 31 class for later years.”
Work on the release of colonial administration files over the 2011-2013 period has regrettably caused a backlog in the regular annual transfer of FCO departmental files to TNA. The colonial files project was completed in November 2013 and we have now deployed all of our file transfer resources onto annual release. We publish the order in which we will be transferring files to the TNA on our website at: www.gov.uk/archive-records.
FCO departmental files relating to Mauritius and the British Indian Ocean Territory form part of the FCO 31 class (Eastern Africa) at TNA. We expect 1981 and 1982 FCO 31 files to transfer to the TNA later this year following which the TNA will require a further period to prepare the files for public release. We are working closely with the TNA on the transfer of files in the FCO 31 class for later years.”
FCO DELAYS THREATEN TO DERAIL NEW HOPES
Back in
November, Mark Simmonds made a
written statement to Parliament confirming that a draft version of the terms of
reference for the forthcoming feasibility study had been published. At the time of writing we are still waiting
for the Foreign Office (FCO) to formally publish a final version of this. As has already been highlighted, the timetable
for the study was precariously narrow.
The next General Election is now under 15 months away and there is a
real danger that the process will be commenced only to be abandoned prior to
competition. This would be a disaster
for all concerned and the Association calls on the FCO to urgently address this
matter so that the feasibility study commences and completes on time.
COMMITTEE REPORT ON SUSTAINABILITY IN THE
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
Earlier
this month, the House of Commons
Environmental Audit Committee released
its report into sustainability in the Overseas Territories. This came in the form of its Tenth Report for
the Parliamentary session of 2013-14.
Following on from the release of the Security, Success and Sustainability Government White Paper published
in June 2012, this was specifically tasked with analysing the UK’s relationship
with her Overseas Territories in terms of her environmental responsibilities
and obligations.
The overall
theme of the report appears to be holding up the Marine Protection Area (MPA)
around the Chagos Islands as being a shining example of good management of
marine resources. However the report also
highlights that over three years after the MPA was created, sufficient
legislation to uphold its existence was still lacking:
“Although commercial fishing licences are no
longer issued in BIOT, legislation to prohibit extractive activities such as
commercial fishing or marine mining has still not been enacted. Defra and the FCO must complete the legal
protections for the marine
environment in BIOT by prohibiting all
extractive activities.”
Page 98 of
Volume I scathingly denounced the MPA as:
“..in legal terms, little more than a name.”
One can
only wonder what our legal team will make of that, ahead of further action in March
at the High Court.
During its
written evidence, the UK Overseas
Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF) emphatically declared its support
for the MPA around the Islands, although did point out that it:
“…regrets some of the ways in which this was
implemented, particularly the unwise and improper comments by the then FCO
Director of Overseas Territories which indicated that the designation was a
means of preventing re-settlement by Chagossians.”
As part of
the same submission it also noted that it did not:
“…share the view that the whole of marine
protected areas should necessarily be no-take zones, although it would be
surprising if all such areas did not include large no-take zones.”
The Marine Reserves Coalition makes
reference to the “highly protected Chagos
Marine Reserve” during its written evidence, without intentionally intending
to lighten the mood of a laborious task of wading through the report. This is some feat given that a member of the
coalition includes Greenpeace UK, whom one assumes would have been informed
of the comments of Greenpeace
International regarding the illegal fishing in the region which still continues
unchecked. Is this another coalition heading
for condemnation?
The Chagos Conservation Trust (CCT) cites
its work in the Chagos Islands and highlights the participation of Chagossians
in its projects.
“CCT with its CEN partners has encouraged
various initiatives...to increase dramatically the number of science
expeditions to BIOT for environmental monitoring and research, and to involve
and train people of Chagossian descent in conservation work. A successful pilot
project on the latter has already been completed by ZSL and its partners for
Chagossians living in the UK (Crawley and Manchester), which we hope will be
continued into future years...”
Regretfully
their evidence makes no reference to the fact that an overwhelming majority of
Chagossians continues to reject the prospect of attending Zoological Society (ZSL) workshops.
This is largely because the CCT, CEN & ZSL have all repeatedly
maintained that the MPA must exist as a no-take fishing zone.
It was a
mighty document, spanning some 258 pages across two volumes, with The Guardian’s Damian Carrington being the first
to digest its contents successfully. The
conclusion was that the UK Government was not doing enough to safeguard the
rare wildlife which existed in the Overseas Territories and that legislation was
the only way to remedy the situation.
DIEGO GARCIA EXPANSION UNDERWAY?
Some very
interesting news was brought to our attention thanks to our ever increasing
reach on the Twitter platform, the
significance of which seems to have slipped largely under the radar in the
wider media. Defi Media Group report
that 40,000 tonnes of rocks are being exported from Mauritius to Diego Garcia with
the intention of filling in sea area to enable expansion of the military
base. Furthermore Mauritian Foreign
Affairs Minister Arvin Boolell
seemed entirely relaxed about the news and stressed that the common arrangement
did not jeopardise their own claims for sovereignty over the islands.
That may be
the case, but the British Government has continued to pledge publicly that no
decision has been taken over the future of the base beyond 2016 and that once
the issue is on the table, Parliament will be consulted and kept informed. For a decision which is not yet taken, this
would appear to be a very pre-emptive decision by the US Government to expand
the base if it did not already know what the future of the Islands would hold
beyond the existing lease.
Pertinent
questions do remain over this rather unusual cargo which is being exported to
the Chagos Islands in such vast volumes.
THE PLIGHT OF THE CHAGOSSIANS
The
independent journalist Jennifer Kennedy marked the
beginning of the year with an interview with Bernadette Dugassee as part of a wider piece
in Intercontinental Cry (IC) describing
the tragedy of the Chagossians.
“Chagossians who
resettled in Seychelles have never been compensated, including Dugasse, who
says she has ‘not received a penny’ from the British Government. The ECHR
argued that those who had not claimed compensation should have done so in the
British courts. But, when a group of 4,500 islanders tried to claim
compensation from the government in 2002, the case was struck out in 2003 on
the grounds that the case was ‘unmeritorious’.
Speaking to IC about
the ECHR’s ruling, she said: ‘My expectation was very high, I feel so
depressed, so sad. It was not the answer I was hoping for... As a Chagossian
born on the island [of Diego Garcia] I
never renounced my right [to return] and I never received any compensation.’
In 2011, Bernadette
visited Diego Garcia for the first and only time in 52 years. Describing the
experience of seeing her homeland she said: ‘When I wake up in the morning I
can feel the fresh air, I can feel the warm sunshine on me, I can feel free. I
am not free here, I was not free in Seychelles but I am free on Diego Garcia.’
Bernadette’s visit was
brief but the islanders’ struggle for justice has continued. After the
disappointing result in the ECHR, the British Government, which has always
argued that resettlement would cost the taxpayer, and compromise the
environment of the BIOT, has agreed to conduct a feasibility study.”
PETER HARRIS
Long time
supporter and researcher Peter Harris
picked up from where he left off in his piece in Green Futures Magazine in September. Writing
on the shared research forum Academia,
he questioned the authenticity of such conservation studies.
Once again Peter’s engaging views on the future of the base
on the islands do not necessarily reflect the views of the Association:
“There are also
conservationist grounds for opposing the resettlement of BIOT, however. Several
scientists (including some of those most intimately acquainted with the Chagos
Archipelago) suggest that resettlement of BIOT is too costly to countenance
when viewed from the perspective of environmental science—their chief argument
being that human habitation of Chagos would deprive scientists of a unique
benchmark against which to measure the health of coral reefs elsewhere. Such
scientists have over recent years become unlikely allies in the FCO’s bid to oppose
the Chagossians’ right of return. This axis was tightest with Labour’s David
Miliband as Foreign Secretary, a politician reputed to have valued the Chagos
Islands as a way to obtain a “green” legacy for himself. A coalition of
respected environmental and conservation groups known as the Chagos Environment
Network (CEN) campaigned for the no-take MPA in Chagos that was ultimately
created in April 2010, over the opposition of most Chagossian groups and their
supporters and in the face of concerns that this MPA represents a neo-colonial
return to ‘fortress conservation’.
The Chagossians have
been unsuccessful in securing a right to resettle their homeland through the
courts. In 2008, the Law Lords upheld the Government’s right to exile the
islanders from BIOT. In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights declined to
hear the islanders’ case on jurisdictional grounds. In 2013, the High Court
dismissed the Chagossians’ Judicial Review claim, in which they had argued that
the Chagos MPA was unlawful because it was intended as a barrier to
resettlement. Nevertheless, the announcement of a new feasibility study means
that a political equilibrium in favour of the Chagossians’ claims may yet
emerge. Numerous MPs and peers are already organized in support of the Chagossians,
dozens as part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Chagos Islands
headed by Jeremy Corbyn MP and coordinated by David Snoxell, a former High
Commissioner to Mauritius and BIOT Commissioner. Indeed, critics abound of the
way that the UK and the USA currently run BIOT on account of the Chagossians’
ongoing exile, and of allegations that Diego Garcia has been used as a CIA
black site, and because the base is a significant polluter (thus undermining
the point of an MPA in Chagos). Mauritius’s longstanding claims to sovereignty
over the Chagos Archipelago (which was integral to the Colony of Mauritius
until its 1965 excision to form BIOT) will be heard in 2014 by a tribunal
organized by the Permanent Court of Arbitration and according to the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea. If the upcoming feasibility study finds that
resettlement of BIOT is practically possible, even if politically sensitive,
this could catalyse political support for an overhaul of what is currently a
troubled Overseas Territory.”
REUNIONAISE
CHAGOSSIAN CONFERENCE
Professor Andre Oraison
was one of the attenders of the CRG 30th anniversary international
conference in October. During the event
he met many supporters associated with the cause including our Chair Sabrina Jean. Professor Oraison, along with le Comite Solidarite Chagos La Reunion, then decided to stage a conference on the
neighbouring island of Reunion, which was held earlier this month.
The one day event was covered quite extensively by the
Reunionaise based newspaper Temoignages,
including promotional coverage ahead
of the conference itself. They also
included extensive
coverage in the proceeding
days, paying particular attention to the address to the conference by Professor
Oraison.
It was a presentation which drew attention to the fact that
the two year period of consultation for the extension of the lease on Diego
Garcia would open on the 30th December 2014. The address was a rallying call for
Chagossians and their supporters to take up the challenge and ensure that as
much pressure as possible is applied ahead of this landmark milestone later in
the year.
It was a refreshing change to see that the coverage from
Temoignages was staggered and ensured that the news of the conference remained
in the public domain for longer. It was
certainly nothing that would be typical of anywhere in the British media
handling such a story and they should be roundly applauded for the initiative
shown.
NEW CHAGOS VIDEO NOW ONLINE
Supporter David Evans contacted us earlier this
month to tell us about a new video he had put together and uploaded to YouTube. The video is a musical montage over a
slideshow of images from the Chagos Islands, from the native settlers to the
current incumbents. The video is
entitled Chagos Island in the Sun and
can be found here.
MPA JUDICIAL
REVIEW APPEAL: DATE ANNOUNCED
Following on from our news in November regarding the leave
to appeal, we are pleased to confirm that the hearing will commence at the High
Court in London on 31st March 2014.
In the light of this announcement, the Chagos Refugees Group has announced that it will be staging a
modest demonstration outside the entrance on the Strand. We are inviting other supporters who oppose
the existence of the MPA to come and join us.
CHAGOS ISLANDS FC
IN ACTION
Our very own Chagos
Islands football team will once again take on Sealand. The match will be
taking place on Sunday 23rd
February with the game kicking off at 2.30pm.
Unfortunately we are still awaiting venue information at the time of publishing
but this will as always be confirmed via our Twitter page as soon as this finalised.
Hopefully we can pull off another
famous victory!
DR LAURA JEFFERY
Edinburgh University
Researcher and Lecturer Dr Laura
Jeffery contacted us earlier this month regarding a project she has been
working on alongside Professor Vinesh
Hookoomsing and Dr Rebecca Potter. An opportunity to introduce the proposal will
take place Crawley Library on Saturday 8th February from
1-3:30pm. This will be especially
relevant for natives (first generation Chagossians). The purpose of the meeting will be to
introduce the project and the project partners.
It will also be a forum to listen to suggestions for improving the
project and to ensure the participation of the Chagossian community.
UK CHAGOS SUPPORT
ASSOCIATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The 2014 AGM of
the UKChSA will be taking place on Sunday 6th April 2014. More details will be announced nearer to the
time but we wanted to provide as much notice as possible so that our supporters
can make necessary arrangements to come along and join us.
Thank you as always for your continued interest and support,
Clency Lebrasse (Update compiler)
