The UK Chagos Support Association

On 7 January, a workshop will take place to discuss the socio-economic impact of the proposed marine protected area (MPA) around the Chagos islands. According to the Marine Education Trust (MET), who will be organising the event, “the principal aim of the workshop is to bring together participants from Marine Centres, Universities, and NGOs who have practical experience of MPA development and management, as well as Chagossian, Government and marine industry stakeholders, to discuss socio-economic obstacles and opportunities in the context of a possible MPA in the Chagos Archipelago.” The workshop will be hosted at the Egham campus of Royal Holloway, University of London.

The one-day event will be opened by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn MP, who also chairs the Chagos Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), and will bring together a number of high-profile groups and individuals who have an interest in the Chagos islands, the Chagossians or marine protection more broadly. As such, it will be a fantastic opportunity for a wide variety of views and expertise to be shared, with the overall findings being compiled into a document to be submitted as part of the FCO’s ongoing consultation process (which ends on 12 February 2010).

This workshop comes five months after a previous workshop, which was mostly attended by members of the scientific community, was held in Southampton. It will differ in that it will go beyond discussing the scientific case for an MPA by delving into the broader socio-economic considerations that the creation of an MPA could throw up (including the consequences for a possible resettlement of the archipelago). Another welcome feature of the workshop will be the presence of several Chagossian representatives, who will have the opportunity to address the attendees and put forward their points of view.

From the perspective of those who support the Chagossians’ right of return, this workshop represents an excellent opportunity for the case of resettlement to be put forward. Of course, the MPA proposal is about environmental protection in the first instance, but it is crucial that the discourse of conservation is not used in a way that buries the Chagossians’ own concerns. Nobody, least of all environmental campaigners, like to see human rights being trampled upon, and hopefully the participants of this workshop will leave with a much clearer understanding about how the environmental protection of Chagos can be met in partnership with the Chagossian people and without prejudicing their basic entitlements.

But perhaps most importantly, this event will also afford participants the invaluable opportunity to agree that their respective aims are not mutually exclusive. If the workshop could agree some broad terms under which the Chagossians’ right of return could be respected whilst still ensuring sound environmental management, then something of great and lasting importance would have been achieved. Indeed, with the European Court of Human Rights case just months away (which could result in the government being pressured into allowing resettlement to take place), such joined-up thinking could well become a necessity in the not-too-distant future.

This Thursday should not be seen as an opportunity solely for supporters of resettlement. Rather, it is an opportunity for all of those who are interested in seeing the creation of a viable, long-lasting and comprehensive environmental protection regime in Chagos. We await the workshop’s outcome with baited breath!