The Chagos Archipelago was a group of Islands located east of Africa, in the Indian Ocean. The British colonized it.

In the 1950s, during the Cold War, the US government needed a place to put their military base. They approached the British government. The Chagos seemed like a perfect place to put their military base. Except for one small technicality:

The island had a few thousand people who’ve been living there for centuries. But, that wasn’t a problem for the British, they were only “man-friday’s” and “tarzans”

Here is some archived footage from 1945 of the Chagossians.

At first, the Chagosians didn’t want to leave. To ensure compliance, the government became Cruella De Ville

To further “incentivize” the Chagossians, the army burned down all the crops and starved them until they agreed to move. The British government made it seem like they would get compensation for their houses and a new place to stay in Mauritius.

However, in Mauritius, nothing was prepared for them. The Chagossians realized that the British government had not built any homes for them. They were forced to live in slums and shanty towns.

Since the Chagossians were used to a high quality of life, many couldn't cope with this forced relocation. Many committed suicide. They have yet to be compensated still. Many still live in the same slums.

Incidentally, the State Department under Kissinger, blatantly lied to Congress and claimed it was uninhabited. No congressional representatives "thought" to check to make sure it was uninhabited.

The UN considers forced relocation to be a crime against humanity and genocide. Serbians have been tried and convicted for the same offense.

To add insult to this injustice, .io domain is a very popular domain and it should belong to the Chagossians. Yet, they don't get a penny. In contrast, Tuvalu gets millions every year for .tv domains and have used it for infrastructure building.

Incidentally, Diego Garcia has been used as a CIA rendition site. The US admitted to deploying Prison Ships from Diego Garcia and using it as a “interrogation” site.

To learn more:

Stefan Donnelly is the vice-chair of UK Chagos Support Association, a non-profit group of volunteers dedicated supporting the Chagossian community. You can contact him via twitter

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