The UK Chagos Support Association

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group held its 27th meeting on 1 February 2012.

David Snoxell, Coordinator of the Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group, likens the attitude of the current government to that of unwilling backseat passengers in an article for Conservative Home, saying:

“There is not much evidence that Ministers are succeeding in challenging the status quo on Chagos and applying political will and compromise to finding workable solutions – though, unlike the previous government, it is pretty clear that they would like to do so. They give the impression of being unwilling passengers bound and gagged in the backseat of a car driven doggedly by their officials.”

Mr Snoxell notes that the UK remains in violation of several UN human rights instruments and decisions and that its international reputation continues to be badly damaged by accusations of double standards. He finishes the article by encouraging the government to resolve the Chagossian injustice in 2012, a year in which the eyes of the world will be focussed on the UK:

“What better year than 2012, when the eyes of the world are on London for the Olympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee, to restore the human rights and the dignity of the Chagossian people? What better way to mark the Queen’s long reign, which has seen the transition of the British Empire to a Commonwealth of Nations, by bringing to an end this tragedy and relic of Empire in the Indian Ocean? Jeremy Corbyn, the Chairman of the APPG, has asked for a debate early in the session. This will be the opportunity for the Foreign Secretary to tell Parliament about the progress that he is making towards a settlement of the issues.”

You can read the full article here.

So explains David Snoxell, co-ordinator of the British All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Chagos, in an interview with L’Express Weekly, Mauritius. The piece covers issues ranging from De L’Estrac’s English translation of his book ‘Next Year in Diego Garcia’ to a recent meeting of the APPG with William Hague, and how people can get more involved in supporting the Chagossians. The article is available here.

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group held its 26th meeting on 15 December 2011 in Parliament. The meeting was preceded by a 45 minute meeting with the Foreign Secretary in the FCO, attended by 8 members from all parties and both Houses, the Coordinator and two officials from Overseas Territories Department.

Members expressed their views on a wide range of issues including review of the 1966 UK/US agreement, defence and security, pre-election Coalition commitments to the Chagossians, the case at Strasbourg, the UK’s human rights obligations, feasibility of resettlement (sea-levels etc), availability of funding, the need for a new independent study, the legitimacy of the MPA, conservation and future sovereignty. Members urged the Foreign Secretary to discuss any US defence concerns with Hilary Clinton directly and to seize the opportunity of the 2014 review of the 1966 agreement in order to make provision for the return of the Chagossians to the Outer Islands. The Chairman of the APPG suggested that one way of making progress would be to establish in the FCO a cross cutting unit, independent of Overseas Territories Department, which would bring all issues from human rights to conservation together, dedicated to bringing about an overall settlement, and which would call on expertise from outside the FCO. With political will and compromise, solutions could be found. It was pointed out that a speech by the Foreign Secretary entitled ‘The best Diplomatic Service in the world: strengthening the FCO’ noted that “our diplomats excel at finding deft, realistic and workable solutions”.This offered cause for optimism.

Mr Hague acknowledged that participants represented a wide cross section of Parliament and that they possessed in-depth knowledge and considerable experience of the issues. He had listened carefully to their suggestions but whilst he was sympathetic to many of the views expressed he could not take matters forward until the court cases had been concluded when a different situation could prevail. He understood that a decision by Strasbourg might take until the early summer. Members urged him, in the meantime, to take forward discussions with the US and Mauritius. Mr Hague reiterated FCO positions on defence and feasibility, whilst recognising that the practical aspect of resettlement was secondary to the principle of the right to return. He mentioned the strengthening of links between the FCO and Chagossian groups through meetings and visits. Mr Hague agreed to a further meeting with the Group after the ECtHR had given its decision. The Chairman thanked the Foreign Secretary for a cordial meeting and said that the Group would write to him about the issues which members had raised. Mr Hague welcomed this.

The subsequent meeting of the APPG reviewed the meeting with the Foreign Secretary and felt that it had been useful and encouraging. It was agreed that the Chairman would table a request for a 90 minute Commons debate early next year. The APPG took note of the Chairman’s response, on behalf of the Group, to the FCO Consultation on the Overseas Territories. The Coordinator reported on the Linnean Society and CCT MPA conference on 24 November which he had attended on behalf of the Group, and also on his recent visit to Strasbourg.

The next meeting will be on 1 February 2012.

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group held its 24th meeting on 19 October 2011.

The Group reviewed the answers to recent Parliamentary Questions and letters from Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers. Most had simply re-stated standard FCO arguments on feasibility and defence which were neither clear nor compelling. These replies remained unconvincing. The Group was pleased to note that the Foreign Secretary would meet members on 9 November 2011 to discuss the issues.

The meeting discussed the need for talks to be opened with the USA on the future of BIOT well in advance of 2014. The US had never said publicly that it required the Outer Islands for defence purposes, though this was frequently asserted by the FCO. It was felt that the Ministry of Defence should also be invited to express a view – they had never done so. The Group would continue to press for a meeting with the US Ambassador to discuss the threat, if any, that resettlement on one of the Outer Islands might pose to the security of the US base or to military operations on Diego Garcia, 140 miles away. The Group felt that the Foreign Secretary should discuss the matter directly with his counterpart, Hilary Clinton, and if necessary persuade her that resettlement posed no threat to the US base. It was thought that since Robin Cook was Foreign Secretary his successors had not discussed the matter with their US counterparts.

The Group took note of the decision by the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) to consider its request that the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration be extended to cover the two uninhabited Overseas Territories, British Antarctic Territory and BIOT, since these territories were directly administered by the FCO. In its 7th report of the 2007-8 session the FAC had stated “We conclude that there is a strong moral case for the UK permitting and supporting a return to BIOT for Chagossians…The FCO has argued that such a return would be unsustainable, but we find these arguments less than convincing”.

The Group considered a complaint to Treasury Solicitors by the lawyers, acting on behalf of the Chagossians, that the FCO had failed in its Duty of Candour to the Courts in the litigation. This had seriously damaged the Chagossian Islanders case and may have led to a miscarriage of justice. The Group were puzzled to learn that the FCO had declined to confirm that the Duty of Candour also applied to submissions to the European Court of Huamn Rights.

The Group took note of a recent report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urging the UK to include information on the implementation of the Convention on Racial Discrimination, and its recommendation that all discriminatory restrictions on Chagossians entering BIOT should be withdrawn. The Group also noted the address on 24 September 2011 of the Prime Minister of Mauritius to the UN General Assembly, concerning Chagos.

A letter from the High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission, Baroness Ashton, in which she looked forward to a fair resolution of the issue of resettlement was noted. The letter concluded that “should the UK Government decide in favour of a return of the Chagos Islanders to their islands, the EU will closely examine all possibilities of support, if such a request for support is made by the UK Government”.

The Group asked the Coordinator to represent it at the joint meeting on the Chagos MPA of the Linnean Society and the Chagos Conservation Trust on 24 November 2011.

The 25th meeting of the APPG will be on 23 November 2011.

Philippa Gregory

Philippa says: “When it comes to the treatment of the Chagossians, it’s as if the democratic revolution never happened. It is totally tyrannical. I cannot understand why successive British governments would act against their own subjects so consistently over so many years using so many underhand techniques.”

Read the full article here. There’s also a letter from David Snoxell, coordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Chagos, in the following day’s paper.

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) held its 23rd meeting on 7th September 2011.

The Group reviewed developments during the parliamentary recess. Members were pleased that Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials had held a meeting on 27th July 2011 with Chagossian Leaders, but noted that the agenda had been restricted to visits, restoration and environmental work; the right of return, resettlement and the proposal for a scientific station supported by Chagossians living in a nearby village (put forward at the Chagos Regagné Conference held at the Royal Geographical Society, London, on 19th May 2011) were excluded by the FCO on grounds that these were ‘political’ issues. While welcoming these on-going projects, the APPG took the view that they could not be a substitute for resolving the underlying issues. The Group also noted that recent press briefings by the FCO had described these ‘initiatives’ as part of of an ongoing ‘strategy’ for BIOT. It was particularly important, in the run-up to the consideration of the Chagos islanders case by the European Court of Human Rights, that this strategy did not distract attention from the fundamental issues before the Court.

The meeting discussed the correspondence concerning the defence security of Diego Garcia between the Chairman, Jeremy Corbyn and the US Ambassador, and the Vice Chairman, Andrew Rosindell and the Foreign Secretary William Hague, noting that both the US Ambassador and Mr Hague had not replied. The Group looked forward to a meeting with the Foreign Secretary which the Chairman had first requested in early February 2011. It was understood that Mr Hague was keen to meet the Group and that a date would be fixed. In June 2011 the Group had asked for a meeting with the US Ambassador.

The Group learnt that the case before the European Court of Human Rights had been delayed, once again at the request of the FCO, by a further month. The date for final submissions on the implications of the Al-Skeini case was now 30th September 2011. In view of the continuing delays to the case, first lodged 7 years ago, the Chagossian lawyers had re-activated the application for a judicial review of the Marine Protected Area.

The next meeting of the APPG is 19th October 2011.

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) held its AGM and 22nd meeting on 13 July 2011. The current office holders (Chairman – Jeremy Corbyn MP; Vice Chairmen – Lord Avebury, Lord Ramsbotham, Andrew Rosindell MP; Secretary – Andrew George MP) were re-elected. Henry Smith MP was also elected Vice-Chaiman. David Snoxell and Richard Gifford were respectively re-appointed Coordinator and Legal Adviser.

The Group took note of the progress that had been made since the general election and the evident desire of current  Ministers to find solutions to the long standing issues concerning the future of the Chagossians and the Chagos Islands. The Vice Chairman, Andrew Rosindell, reported on a meeting that he and the Patrons, Chairman and Vice Chairman of UKChSA had held with the Foreign Secretary on 27 June 2011, and on a subsequent exchange of letters in which the Foreign Secretary had listed  on-going initiatives and had expressed the hope that others would be possible. While the meeting had been positive and encouraging, as were the proposed small projects, Mr Rosindell had appealed to the Foreign Secretary to go beyond the constraints of official briefing and deal with the fundamental issues of the right to return and resettlement.

While in opposition, both Coalition parties had expressed a determination to work for a just and fair settlement. The Government had already had more than a year to find an agreeable solution. Members of the Group asked when the  all-party meeting, to which the Foreign Secretary had agreed in early May 2011, would take place. The Chairman said he would remind Mr Hague.

The Group considered the Chairman’s letter to the US Ambassador of 10 June 2011, proposing a meeting with the Group to discuss any potential defence security issues over resettlement. Since no reply had yet been received the Coordinator was asked to remind the US Embassy.

The Group also considered the Chairman’s letter to the Chairmen of the Public Administration and Foreign Affairs Select Committees concerning the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner with regard to the Overseas Territories. The Group agreed that the Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights should also be seized of the issues.

The Group discussed the ECtHR’s (Strasbourg) judgment of 7 July on the Al-Skeini case (that the UK was responsible under the European Convention for the human rights violations of its soldiers against civilians, since the UK had control and jurisdiction in Iraq at that time). The disposal of the Al-Skeini case cleared the way for the Court to consider the Chagos Islanders case and this was expected in the autumn. The Group felt, however, that this judgment had such important implications for the Government’s case in Strasbourg that it would be prudent, and much cheaper for the taxpayer, for the UK to withdraw from the case and settle out of court.

The next meetings of the APPG will be on 7 September and 19 October 2011.

Photo: Gail Johnson

The Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group held its 21st meeting on 8th June 2011.

Members discussed the follow-up to the Chagos Regagné Conference held on the 19th May 2011 at the Royal Geographical Society, London. They were grateful to Philippa Gregory, Ben Fogle and Roch Evenor for their considerable efforts in bringing together Chagossians and all those involved with Chagos. They noted that the Vice-Chairman, Andrew Rosindell MP, would be accompanying the organisers of the conference to a meeting with the Foreign Secretary on 27th June 2011.

The Group discussed on-going exchanges with the US Embassy concerning defence security, a complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman concerning maladministration and a  meeting with the Foreign Secretary at which the 3 main parties will be represented.

The Group agreed that matters should be brought before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Public Administration Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights. The Coordinator reported on a meeting with officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

In an article in this week’s Mauritius Times, David Snoxell, who coordinates the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Chagos, argues that negotiation and compromise offer the only way out of the current impasse between the British and Mauritian governments.

The UK government faces a protracted legal battle as a result of the previous government’s decisions in 2004 and 2010 to use royal orders to overturn a court decision in favour of the islanders’ right to return, and to introduce a marine reserve that made resettlement all but impossible.

The Orders in Council of 2004 are being challenged by the Chagossians at the European Court of Human Rights, while the creation of the Marine Protected Area is now subject to a judicial review, as well as being challenged by Mauritius at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Instead of getting bogged down in endless legal battles, Snoxell says matters could be resolved more quickly, more easily and more fairly in bilateral talks. “The onus rests with the British government,” he writes. “They could propose to Mauritius a resumption of the 2009 bilateral talks which Mauritius suspended over the MPA row, but this time with the aim of reaching an across the board resolution of the issues. The future of the islands and that of the Chagossians, the right of return, the MPA and sovereignty cannot be excluded from the agenda and ministers must be engaged… The only sensible way forward is through negotiation and compromise.”