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Chagossians win !!

moono

Resigned.
Banned
A.m.

Appeal Court to rule over Chagos


The UK government is due to find out whether it can stop Chagos Islanders returning to their homeland.

Some 2,000 residents were forced out when the British colony in the Indian Ocean was leased to the US in the 1960s to build an airbase at Diego Garcia.

The Diego Garcia base, which was crucial during the Cold War, has gained new significance in recent years as a launching point for bombing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6682437.stm

P.m.

Chagos islanders win key bout in fight to go home

LONDON (Reuters) - The people of the Chagos Islands, driven from their Indian Ocean paradise by the British government more than 40 years ago, may soon be able to return home after a stunning High Court victory on Wednesday.

The court dismissed a Foreign Office appeal against their return, saying the right to go home was "one of the most fundamental liberties known to human beings".

It also said it believed the government should not be allowed to appeal any longer, but left that decision up to the House of Lords -- the country's highest court.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=801412007

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Fan-fuckin-tastic !!!
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The lease to Diego Garcia, one of America's major bases and one instrumental in Middle East bombings, expires around 2013.

Please oppose renewal. :)
 
A very positive move. I can't see why the islanders had to leave in the first place. Other places have military bases which co-exist with locals. Sometimes the locals do quite well out of the bases financially (although obviously there are exceptions as in Japan with the aberant behaviour of the US service personell there). Look at how East Anglia was hit financially when the yanks closed bases. Pubs shutting etc etc.
 
excellent

The court dismissed a Foreign Office appeal against their return, saying the right to go home was "one of the most fundamental liberties known to human beings".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We regret the decisions that were made in the 1960s and 1970s but it is important to remember that the vast majority of Chagossians are either citizens of Mauritius or the Seychelles. They are also British citizens with the right of abode in the UK."

from the beeb

so its a fundamental liberty for people forced from their homes to be able to return, surely the FO are missing the point, the Chagossians dont want to live in Mauritius (although i wouldn't mind) they want to go back to their homes from which they were forced to leave
palestinians dont even have the luxury of being citizens of another country and even if they did "the right to go home was "one of the most fundamental liberties known to human beings"

thanks for that moono :)

put a smile on my face
 
moono said:
The lease to Diego Garcia, one of America's major bases and one instrumental in Middle East bombings, expires around 2013.

Please oppose renewal. :)

I thought Blair had got the Queen to over-rule this House of Lords decision. Or does this new ruling now over-rule the Queen and move the US base off the island?
 
And I though you only cared about Palestine.
It's pretty disgusting what happened to the Chagossians - what's gonna be left for them to go back to?
 
Orang Utan said:
And I though you only cared about Palestine.
Strange idea - I care about injustice anywhere - I just happen to have a personal interest in Palestine.

It's pretty disgusting what happened to the Chagossians - what's gonna be left for them to go back to?

Well the USA could try to dismantle their bases there and restoring the landscape - it'll give them some practice for doing it in Iraq and other parts of the world when they finally get an ethical president [surely it's bound to happen eventually?]
 
Lol. The courts originally decided in favour of the islanders and the government ( spineless American-stuffed apologies for humanitarians ) took it to appeal- and lost. They then employed an obscure UK 'constitutional ' loophole whereby they avoided the courts decision, avoided parliament entirely and went to the Queen for 'an Orders in Council'.

This, as far as I'm aware consists of the government saying ' Oi, Maj, you'll sign this or else' and the dear old duck saying ' Fair enough'.

The Chagossians then took that 'decision' to the High Court and successfully challenged it yesterday. The government has been blocked from further 'appeals' but the High Court ruling could still be reversed by the House of Lords.

I don't know if that means the Law Lords or whether the Serpent's Brief, Goldsmith, gets to have his bent two-pennoth.

The islanders still can't return to Diego Garcia, the main island of the group where the American base is, but they can return to the others. It's a start.
The Americans, frightened in the past of weakening their position, have always refused to employ Chagossians at the base, importing thousands of workers from elsewhere in the world. The British government even falsified a 'survey', stating that the islands were uninhabitable whereas the Americans advertise it as ' a paradise' for military recruits.

Diego Garcia threatens the entire Middle East and beyond. It has been instrumental in constructing the Americanized nightmare which is the Middle East and it is very important to their plans to attack Iran. It's lease, as I said, expires around 2013 and renewal could be refused.

Jeremy Corbyn, M.P. is a major Chagossian champion.

http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/

If you feel like adding something you could hit the 'contact' button on that site and congratulate somebody. You might just inspire them to fight on.
Or you could email them and take the piss, it will have the same effect.
 
Lol.

Helping the Middle East to shake off American shackles will benefit the Palestinians.

No doubt it will be the pro-Zionists who want the Chagossians barred from their own land and the 'lease' to continue. It's an attitude they can understand and support.

The primary concern here though is the Chagossians. Take care of one injustice and it helps tackle another further up the road. The court's decision that people have 'a fundamental right to their homes', as 'spirit' pointed out, is very useful affirmation of precedent under English law even if the shysters can demonstrate that it doesn't apply universally.
 
Minnie_the_Minx said:
Good for them. Apparently they're treated like 3rd class citizens in Mauritius

Pilger pointed out an interesting parallel. Thatcher was willing to go to war to protect the rights of a couple of thousand white British subjects in the Falklands - but our govt. had no respect for an equal number of black british subjects in the Chagos islands. The UK sold those people into exile for a few million quid discount on a nuclear sub. Pretty sickening really - good old 20th century British equality.
 
You know, the UK is in a terrible state, politically. The two main parties are both Bush babies and the future for UK independence looks terribly bleak. They'll be falling over themselves to lease off Diego Garcia for a few million quid off the next Trident folly.
 
Bump. They're clearly still a long way from winning.

Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam, has just announced that his government are going to the 'International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea' over Britain's creation of a marine park around the Chagos islands.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.3b29b364e92472d3587fc96ce6d6698b.261

Britain created the marine park in April this year, ensuring that no one will be allowed to settle on The Chagos Islands again, which of course also rules out a return for the 2,000 islanders.

I'm not sure that Mauritius' motives are entirely down to concern for the Chagossians, but Ramgoolam is probably right when he says: "We know the real reason for the marine reserve: preventing Chagossians from returning to Chagos."
 
Orang Utan said:
And I though you only cared about Palestine.
Strange idea - I care about injustice anywhere - I just happen to have a personal interest in Palestine.



Well the USA could try to dismantle their bases there and restoring the landscape - it'll give them some practice for doing it in Iraq and other parts of the world when they finally get an ethical president [surely it's bound to happen eventually?]
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

LaughingDog.gif

Sorry, it couldn't be helped.
 
I thought Blair had got the Queen to over-rule this House of Lords decision. Or does this new ruling now over-rule the Queen and move the US base off the island?
the queen can't overrule such a decision, AFAIK, constitutional convention pretty much forbids it
 
The Universal Postal Union delegitimised BIOT stamps a while ago (this means that they are not recognised as legitimate postage anywhere in the world), much to my delight. I have a full set of covers from every post office in the islands, which will now increase in value.
 
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Maybe they've finally won, or maybe they haven't. The UK is going to hang onto the base and hand the rest of the territory back to Mauritius. However, the Chagosians don't seem to have been consulted.

It's also unclear what's going to happen to the Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers who've been stuck there for years.
 
I seem to remember Mauritius asking the US for help in gaining sovereignity over the islands in return for a guarantee that Diego Garcia wouldn't be affected. I suspect that is going to happen is that the ownership will transfer from Britain to Mauritius on paper and nothing much will change in reality though it does look possible that the Chagossians might be allowed back onto the other islands.
As for the Tamils they're stuck there until they agree to go somewhere other than the UK or the US. The odd one or two has been flown to South Africa for medical treatment apparently but once there they haven't been allowed back to Diego Garcia.
 
Not sure Mauritius has a brilliant claim to them really. Just seems like a technicality based on how the French organised their colonies.

"Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, condemned the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement.

It said: “Chagossian Voices deplore the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland. Chagossians have learned this outcome from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland. The views of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.”
 
Classic fudge.

The Chagossians, (how many who were removed are still alive today?) can return to other islands, not Diego Garcia, even though there's nothing much on those other islands. The UK keeps the base they lease to the US for 'an initial period' of 99 years. The US keeps their base, face saved for the UK and Mauritius, the Chagossians don't really gain anything much. Grant Shapps is apoplectic, which is always a joy.

But in reality what can anyone do, roll up at one of the US's most powerful bases and ask them to fuck off?
 
Why can't the US just lease the base from it's new owners? Why does the UK even need to be involved?
I think the US likes to operate with at least the veneer of 'legality' The current Mauritian Govt may be US friendly but a future one may not be putting the US in the position of just ignoring the Mauritian Govt or annexing Diego Garcia. It sure as hell isn't going to leave so I think this arrangement gives them something they could use in any possible court proceeding rather than just saying "Fuck you make us leave"
There is a similar issue with Guantanamo, the US has a treaty from 1934 with a previous Cuban Govt granting them a lease in perpetuity and still cuts Cuba an annual check for the rent which they refuse to cash. The Cubans aren't capable of forcing the Yanks to go and any court case will fail on the treaty (certainly in a US court which is only place that counts)
 
Never ever seen this before. An Agency recruiting for recently retired public order cops to go at short notice.Pickman's model , I reckon you know enough about GB public order tactics to blag the interview….

View attachment 445307
What's particularly strange about the ad is it specifying 12 vacancies - it's like they're after 2/3 of a psu. One of the tsg branches was disbanded a couple of years ago so no doubt some of those tainted cops will apply
 
What's particularly strange about the ad is it specifying 12 vacancies - it's like they're after 2/3 of a psu. One of the tsg branches was disbanded a couple of years ago so no doubt some of those tainted cops will apply

That was a lot longer than a couple of years ago. It could be them trying to complete a PSU, but I rather think its probably 1/3 of a PSU (one working 12 hour shifts whilst the other is off) rather than 2/3.

Good luck to the recruitment team trying to get retired coppers to sign up for that though - £10k for four weeks work where they don't say where it is or anything about what you'll actually be doing. I think most people could guess, though.
 
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