The Metropolis

UK screws over the Chagos Islanders just a little bit more by turning their home into park

Darren Atwater | Monday 1 November, 2010 16:40

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The screwing of the people of Chagos Islands has been well documented. *

Now the ocean around the Chagos Islands, except of course, the US base of Diego Garcia, is the largest marine protected area in the world. And what profession did the Chagossians practise to survive? Fishing. What does this new marine park ban? Fishing. Which will really cause a problem if and when their descendants can go home again.

* Here’s the potted notes: In 1970, the UK forcibly removed all the residents of the British Indian Ocean Territory and dropped them off at the port in Mauritius. Just like that. The largest island in the new, empty territory, Diego Garcia, was given over to the US as a military base.

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