Plight of the Unpeople: Local people and protection of the Chagos reef

2009-01-28

Local people and protection of the Chagos reef

Protection of the marine life of the Chagos Archipelago can be aided by the local people

Sir, Frank Pope’s illuminating article (“Protect this jewel in the Indian Ocean’s crown”, Jan 23) on protecting the marine life of the Chagos Archipelago ignores the interests of the human species, ie, the people who were exiled from their homeland, 40 years ago, to make way for the base on Diego Garcia. The 4,000 personnel and military hardware on Diego and the thousands of yachts and tourists which anchor and pass through the Archipelago, are bound to have a greater environmental impact than the few Chagossians who want to return to the Outer Islands.

They would make ideal conservation guardians, perhaps more effective than the British patrol vessel which covers the entire Archipelago. It has been described as trying to police an area from London to Manchester with one policeman. Most scientists believe that human presence goes hand in hand with conservation. Local inhabitants, in a carefully controlled resettlement on two of the atolls, could enhance the protection of marine life, bird sanctuaries, coastal waters and the islands, not least eradication of invasive species.

Unesco world heritage status would help to protect the future of the Archipelago but this would have to be done in conjunction with Mauritius. The UK is committed to returning the islands to Mauritius when no longer needed for defence purposes. Only Diego Garcia is needed for defence, not the 54 Outer Islands, 150 miles away.

The 39 members of the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group, of which I am the co-ordinator, will no doubt want to consider how best to reconcile conservation with human habitation.

David Snoxell

British High Commissioner to Mauritius (2000-04)

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Vietnamese

"If you really want to get a sense of “what happened” in Vietnam ... just imagine that you’re actually crouched in your basement, that your home above is ablaze, that lethal helicopters are hovering overhead, and that heavily-armed teenagers — foreigners who don’t speak your language — are out there in your yard, screaming commands you don’t understand, rolling grenades into your neighbor’s cellar, and if you run out through the flames, into the chaos, one of them might just shoot you." - Nick Turse

America

“Everywhere I go, every town I visit, you don’t see any industries. You don’t see any factories. You don’t see anything. We don’t make anything. We are really the poorest country on earth, but people refuse to see that. We are only surviving. We are only looking good because of our military might, because we are an empire. But this force cannot go on forever. It should be so obvious that we’re only chugging along, bullying people into lending us money and sending us stuff that we don’t deserve, that we haven’t earned. How can we survive? Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been reduced to living like savages in this self-proclaimed greatest country on earth.” - Linh Dinh

Chagossians

"First, they tried to shoot the dogs. Next, they tried to poison them with strychnine. When both failed as efficient killing methods, British government agents and U.S. Navy personnel used raw meat to lure the pets into a sealed shed. Locking them inside, they gassed the howling animals with exhaust piped in from U.S. military vehicles. Then, setting coconut husks ablaze, they burned the dogs’ carcasses as their owners were left to watch and ponder their own fate." - David Vine writing about the ethnic cleansing of Diego Garcia

2009-01-28

Local people and protection of the Chagos reef

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