Letter To The Queen
From the Chagos Refugee Group
Chagos Refugee Group
c/o Chairman Mr. L. Olivier Bancoult O.S.K
Her Majesty the Queen
Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair
Mr. Bill Ramell
11 August 2004
Your Majesty, Honourable Prime Minister and Honourable Mr. Bill Ramell,
I am directed by the group mentioned above and on behalf of the Chagossian community living in Mauritius to reply to the letter dated 28th July, of the Commissioner of B.I.O.T., Mr. A. C. Crombie. After consulting extensively with Chagossians about your reply, I would like to draw your attention to the following decisions made by Chagossians at an open public assembly this 8th August 2004
The Chagossian community rejects several points expressed in Mr. Crombie’s letter:
(i)Concerning the Orders in Council, we believe that with these Orders, Her Majesty has rejected and denied our fundamental rights as everyone has the right to live in his native land, but we are being prohibited. Foreigners can live and work on our motherland, whereas we are denied this right. For a country that is supposed to be a champion of human rights, in the case of the Chagossians the rights of Her Majesty’s own subjects are being destroyed. I quote the Magna Carta as saying no British subjects shall be exiled from the realm.
(i)Concerning the visit to Chagos, we have made this request since 8th November 2000, in a meeting at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London and since our last petition, we have said that we are ready to go and that you should consider including the Diego Garcia cemetery on the trip. You said that you have twice tried to organize such a visit but have failed for reasons beyond your control. But it is not under our control. It is you who must take the responsibility to charter and finance such a trip. We hope that you will take immediate action to let us know the date of the visit and that you will take into consideration that the Chagos Refugees Group is representing most Chagossians in Mauritius, but that we have agreed that other groups like the Chagos Committee (Seychelles), Diego Garcia Island Council, and the Chagos Social Committee of Mauritius should be included. We believe that the visit should take place before any others, as we have seen that a group called Wexas has been allowed with the approval of the B.I.O.T. to make a trip on a 120 foot (3 ton) yacht from Seychelles to Chagos, together with Friends of Chagos and twelve tourists who expect to pay £4,500. We hope that you understand that our wish to pay tribute to our ancestors’ graves in Chagos is more important than the trip of reef experts and marine ecologists. We hope to have a reply to this demand.
(i)As regards the request for employment of Chagossians in Diego, we protest against the recruitment of foreigners like Philipinos, Sri Lankans, Singaporeans, Mauritians, and others. We, as natives, are being refused employment because of our place of birth, and we want to receive the treatment of human beings not discrimination. Chagossians are jobless while others are working and living on our native land. We hope that you will treat this matter as urgent.
(i)In our last petition we have raised the issue of the provision of medical care, scholarships, and a Social Aid Trust Fund, but you have just turned this into a compensation issue. Do we have the right to have the same treatment on these issues as others in the British Dependent Territories? For example, National Health Services, scholarships, training are mostly funded by DFID. Are we not allowed access to this funding, especially as the UK is receiving fishing license fees paid for by vessels who fish in B.I.O.T. waters? Is it because we are of black and slave origins that we have received such treatment as opposed to the people in the Falkland Islands, St. Helena, and so on? Why cannot these facilities be granted to us? And why not those facilities of housing and welcoming that have been given to people who wish to come and reside in the UK?
(i)As for the compensation issue, we have taken note of Mr. Bill Ramell’s reply on this issue as being open to meet with MPs to discuss the matter, even if he has made no such promises. We believe it is time to have a meeting with MPs and Chagos leaders to discuss this issue. We hope that you will consider our request and repair all wrongs done to Chagossians. You mention that compensation payments that have already been made are equivalent to £14.5 million at today’s rates, but Chagossians have been given no more than barely over £1,000, a sum which is ridiculous considering what your government has put us through. And still nothing has been done to solve many other serious problems like our being jobless. The Court of Appeal has stated that compensation is a matter for the UK Government to deal with, not the Courts and we hope that the UK Government will take into consideration our request.
(i)As for the British passport issue, we are preparing a list, to be submitted to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, of Chagossians who have not been able to have a British passport, with proof of their parents’ connection to Chagos. We hope that consideration will be given to them and we are ready to cooperate to provide more information and to select only people whose cases are genuine.
To conclude, we want to draw your attention to the fact that Chagossians have decided to send this second letter and hope that by the end of this month issues will start to have some progress. Otherwise we will have no choice but to go and live and sleep in front of the British High Commission in Port Louis to ask for our rights and start a hunger strike if we are not being given appropriate consideration by the UK Government. We hope to have a reply by the end of this month and progress to show to our Chagossian community.
Respectfully yours,
Olivier Bancoult, OSK
Chairman of the Chagos Refugee Group and on behalf of the Chagossians
Community living in exile in Mauritius
