<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p data-start=\"152\" data-end=\"394\">President Donald Trump\u2019s description earlier this month of the UK\u2013Mauritius agreement on the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands as \u201can act of great stupidity\u201d \u00a0briefly turned the world\u2019s attention to the remote archipelago.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"396\" data-end=\"633\">While most of the coverage and debate focused on the US military base on Diego Garcia island, little attention has been given to the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2023\/02\/15\/thats-when-nightmare-started\/uk-and-us-forced-displacement-chagossians-and\"> sordid story<\/a> of US and UK involvement in ongoing crimes against humanity against the islands\u2019 Indigenous people \u2013 the Chagossians.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"974\" data-end=\"1246\">The Chagossians, whose island homeland is in the middle of the Indian Ocean, are largely descended from formerly enslaved East Africans. More than 60 years ago, US officials decided that the largest island, Diego Garcia, would be a suitable location for a remote military base.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1248\" data-end=\"1551\">The US saw the Chagossian population as a problem, as they wanted the island \u201cclean\u201d of inhabitants. Over the next decade, they secretly plotted with the UK \u2013 the colonial power governing Chagos \u2013 through a manufactured story based on racism and lies, to force the islanders from their home.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1553\" data-end=\"1952\">One US admiral, Elmo Zumwalt, said the islanders \u201cabsolutely must go\u201d. To scare them into leaving, UK and US personnel gassed their dogs. From 1967 to 1973, the UK proceeded to force all the Chagossians \u2013 as many as 2,000 people \u2013 from all the islands, not only Diego Garcia. The US built and has now operated the Diego Garcia base for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1954\" data-end=\"2275\">Today, the Chagossians live in exile, largely in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Many remain in poverty and have been prevented by the UK and US from returning to live in their homeland, even though generations have continued to campaign to do so. The islands, apart from the US military base, remain abandoned.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2277\" data-end=\"2717\">The story of US involvement in this forced displacement has been gradually uncovered, including through a congressional inquiry, the work of the academic David Vine, and the indefatigable struggle of generations of Chagossians to uncover the truth and return home. In 2023, Human Rights Watch found that the UK and US were responsible for crimes against humanity and had a duty to provide reparations \u2013 an opportunity to right their wrongs.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2719\" data-end=\"3064\">As a result, the US State Department for the first time acknowledged \u201cregret\u201d for what had happened to the Chagossians. Subsequently, the UK and Mauritius agreed in principle to a treaty to recognise Mauritian sovereignty over the islands, although the UK will maintain formal control of Diego Garcia island and the US military base will remain.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3066\" data-end=\"3554\">Forgotten in this settlement are the Chagossians. The treaty talks about historical wrongs, but the crimes are ongoing. The Chagossians are still prevented from returning home: Their islands \u2013 apart from the base \u2013 remain empty. Some Chagossians hope that the treaty will allow them to live on some of the islands, though this will depend on Mauritius fulfilling its obligations. The treaty itself\u00a0provides no guarantee of their return\u00a0and says nothing about the reparations owed to the Chagossians.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3556\" data-end=\"3922\">The US still appears opposed to Chagossians returning to Diego Garcia, even though the base occupies at most half the island. No Chagossian we\u2019ve spoken to wants the base to close; instead, they would like the opportunity to work there. The US has kept a very low public profile in the negotiations \u2013 at least until President Trump\u2019s comments \u2013 hiding behind the UK.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3924\" data-end=\"4150\">But the agreement\u2019s terms make it clear that the US has been influencing the negotiations. The US \u201cregret\u201d for the treatment of the Chagossians has yet to translate into ensuring the Chagossians can return to Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4152\" data-end=\"4608\">The treatment of the Chagossians is a crime in which the US has been implicated for more than 50 years, and to which Trump has inadvertently drawn attention. Having acknowledged regret, the US\u00a0and UK\u00a0governments should now ensure that their\u00a0actions align with their\u00a0obligations under international law, including\u00a0working with Mauritius\u00a0to enable the Chagossians to return to their homeland and providing appropriate reparations. Until that happens, the injustice remains unresolved.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The views expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera\u2019s editorial stance.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info President Donald Trump\u2019s description earlier this month of the UK\u2013Mauritius agreement on the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands as \u201can act of great stupidity\u201d \u00a0briefly turned the world\u2019s attention to the remote archipelago. While most of the coverage and debate focused on the US military base on Diego Garcia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}