Lack of human impacts is one of the reasons why Chagos is in such an unspoiled condition. However, there was a community who lived and worked on the islands from the late 18th century until the 1970s. So what happened to them?
The East Point Plantation dock on Diego Garcia, 1968.
A Diego Garcian Plantation worker in a locally built canoe.
Plantation workers huts on Diego Garcia.
A fisherman holding the jaws of a shark that he had harpooned from his canoe.
Plantation boatbuilders testing a new boat, 1969.
Representatives from the RSPB, the Chagos Conservation Trust and Coral Cay Conservation meet with members of the Diego Garcian Society in Crawley, November 2009.
People
The Chagos Islands were uninhabited when Europeans first arrived in the 1500s. In 1793 a French colony was established consisting of a slave-based plantation economy. In 1814 the islands were ceded to Britain by France as part of the Treaty of Paris, and they have been British territory since that time. Following emancipation by Britain in 1840, some descendants of the former slaves, along with newly contracted immigrants, stayed on the Chagos to work there. By the middle of the 20th century, the coconut industry had become unprofitable and was closing down. Following the decision in the 1960s that the islands should be set aside for defence purposes, the remaining plantations were closed and the islanders who were still in the Chagos (estimates vary between 1,200 – 2,500 people) were removed to Mauritius and the Seychelles. Although many former Chagos islanders and their children still live in Mauritius and the Seychelles, around 2,000 have since moved to the UK following their designation as full British Citizens by The British Overseas Territories Act of 2002.
Apart from the island of Diego Garcia, where there are military and support personnel (including a very small number of Diego Garcians and other Chagossian community members), the other 54 tiny coral islands, adding up to only 16 square miles in total, are uninhabited – and most have always been so. Due particularly to climate change, the islands, which are mainly less than two metres above sea-level, are increasingly vulnerable to erosion, flooding and other effects of sea-level rise.
Compensation has twice been paid by the British government for the benefit of the displaced Diego Garcians and other Chagossian communities. In 1973 £650,000 was paid to the Government of Mauritius, and in 1982 £4 million was paid into a Trust Fund. In today’s terms, these payments are worth approximately £14.5 million. In addition, about £1 million worth of land in Mauritius was reportedly made available to the Diego Garcians and other Chagossian groups. There is some controversy surrounding compensation intended for the Diego Garcians and other Chagossian communities residing in Mauritius however, as although this compensation was certainly paid, there is evidence that not all of it reached the intended recipients. Chagossian communities who had been moved to the Seychelles were compensated indirectly through construction projects.
Over the past decade, Diego Garcians and other Chagossian groups have brought a number of claims against the UK and US Governments for additional compensation and the right to return to the Islands. In 2008 (the most recent lawsuit in the UK), a judgment by the Law Lords upheld the British government position, which states that there is no right of abode in the Chagos and that anyone wishing to visit needs authorisation. The Diego Garcians and other Chagossian communities have now taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
For more information see ‘A Brief History of the Ilois’ by Ted Morris.
What is the Chagos Environment Network’s (CEN) position on the legal case?
We cannot predict the future. We believe that the Chagos Islands and their surrounding waters should be protected for the resources and values they have today. This designation would mean that the Chagos Islands and their resources would remain healthy no matter what the future holds, but that conservation arrangements could be modified if necessary in the light of a change in circumstances.
It is completely clear, and spelt out by the UK Government, that decisions on the establishment of a marine protected area in Chagos are without prejudice to the pending legal proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. Should the situation change following the legal process, everyone involved accepts that the protected area could change to accommodate that. Therefore, if the Government does decide to designate the area a fully no-take marine reserve as we hope, this designation will not prove a legal obstacle if the Diego Garcians and other Chagossian communities are granted the right to return in the future.
The reason that the Diego Garcians and other Chagossian groups have been excluded from the Archipelago is due to the setting aside of this area for defence purposes under the UK/US Treaty. This is a completely separate issue from the establishment of a marine reserve; one has absolutely no bearing on the other.
Is the CEN working with Diego Garcian and other Chagossian groups?
There are a number of organisations that speak for and represent the interests of Diego Garcian and other Chagossian communities in the UK, Mauritius, the Seychelles and elsewhere. The CEN has contacts with some of the Diego Garcian and Chagossian groups based in the UK and indeed the CEN invited them to speak at the launch of our campaign at the Royal Society in April 2009. At that meeting – whilst not specifically endorsing the CEN proposal – Allen Vincatassin, Patron/Chairman of the Diego Garcian Society, who was born and lived in the Chagos, said:
“As I saw on my recent visit to Diego Garcia and the Chagos, the pristine environment of the archipelago has to be continuously preserved. We are keen to work in partnership with the Chagos Conservation Trust. Preservation of the environment goes beyond the sphere of politics. We are in this together.”
Roch Evenor, Secretary of the Chagos Support Association, said:
“We want the Chagos environment to stay as it is. And we want people to be back there as it is. There are difficulties and conservation is needed. We want to work on all solutions for conservation of Chagos, hand in hand; but don’t forget about the human aspect.”
On the 19th of November 2009, the Chagos Conservation Trust held a workshop with some 30 members of the Diego Garcian Society in Crawley to discuss the importance and conservation of coral reefs. The workshop was also attended by representatives of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and Coral Cay Conservation (CCC), who offered the Society the opportunity to join their Reef Conservation Scholarship Programme. Two scholarship places are being made available by the Trust and CCC to Chagossians wishing to learn about the importance and fragility of coral reefs, as well as how and why we need to protect them.
We intend to continue our work with Diego Garcian and other Chagossian communities. We believe the proposal to protect the environment of the Chagos Islands will not harm their legitimate concerns and interests and will ensure these islands and their resources are maintained in the best condition possible for the future, whatever that may be.
What is the CEN’s view on other people visiting the Chagos?
We understand that visiting arrangements have to be compatible with security requirements. At the same time, we think that some limited and well regulated vessel-based visiting, related to science and the environment, could be compatible with the marine protected area, providing it does not disturb the environment of the Archipelago. The conservation of the strict marine protected area should be an over-riding consideration when visiting arrangements are under consideration.
