Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-12-16-Speech-3-645-000"
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"en.20151216.39.3-645-000"2
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"Mr President, as we are today discussing human rights, I feel it is most appropriate to highlight one of the more shameful episodes of recent British history. Nearly 40 years ago, back in 1966, an agreement was reached between my country and the United States relating to the Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territory granting America a military lease on the island of Diego Garcia. This led to the forcible removal of inhabitants from the archipelago. Many Chagossians were sent to Mauritius; some came to the UK. They had no choice. None have been allowed to return.
Their case has as yet been unsuccessful before the British courts and the creation of a marine protection area (MPA) in 2010 has further complicated matters, despite the court of arbitration ruling that this MPA breaches the rules of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. I support the desire of Chagossians to return to their home, especially as definitive studies have underlined that they could re-establish an economically viable community away from the main island and military base of Diego Garcia.
It seems that, for once, we can ‘have our cake and eat it’. Her Majesty’s government quite rightly supports both Falkland Islanders and Gibraltarians in a right to self-determination and to remain British overseas territories, whilst, at the very same time, shamefully neglecting our duty of care to the Chagossian people
Successive British governments, both Labour and Conservative, should hold their heads in shame."@en1
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