| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Expelled islanders await BritainÂ’s next move |
| 2006-06-06 |
| POINTE AUX SABLES, Mauritius - Elianee Siatous still recalls the day a British official said her Indian Ocean homeland had been sold and she would be sent into exile hundreds of miles away. Along with 2,000 others, Siatous was forcefully expelled by Britain from the Chagos archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for a US airbase on Diego Garcia, one of the islands. Exiled from the coralline islands lying halfway between Africa and Indonesia, the Chagossians were dumped hundreds of miles away on the shores of Mauritius and Seychelles. Last month a British High Court ruling rekindled hope amongst the islanders that going back might be possible. After a long legal battle the court ruled that special measures taken to block their return were unlawful, paving the way for compensation and a right to go home. Britain has until Thursday to appeal against the ruling. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 From what I've read, they don't actually want to go back there. They want to be resettled elsewhere and to receive compensation. They were literally dumped in Mauritius (where they are not wanted). So it is really about money. The British Government will have a hard time arguing emminent domain .. the records from that time are not flattering.. "Sir Paul Gore-Booth, a leading figure in the British Foreign Office, wrote at the time, “we must be very tough about this” and that “there will be no indigenous population [on Diego Garcia] except seagulls.” One diplomat declared in another document, “Unfortunately along with the birds go a few Tarzan and Man Fridays whose origins are obscure, and who are being hopefully whisked on to Mauritius.” " |
| Posted by: john 2006-06-06 16:41 |
| #1 Wanker socialist anti US of A judges and government employees are helping out as is their socialist lawyer. Regardless of what some Judge says the UK governmnent has the power to take their land with the power of the state and use it for the states purpose. I would love to see that Judge enforce his ruling on the US military. As the saying goes "good luck with that." |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-06-06 00:28 |