Win At Last Or Another Score Draw?

It was heartening to read that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Chagos islanders can return to rebuild a life that most of the Archipelago's inhabitants feel was lost back in the 1960's.

In the 1960's and 1970's more than 2,000 people were forced to leave their homes on the sixty five coral islands to make way for the arrival of the U.S Air Force, the main island in the Archipelago is Diego Garcia. In a classic example of 'sods law' just when the islanders thought it would their right to return after the end of the Cold War, they had their hopes dashed by the global war on terror which meant that the huge air force base was once again a important strategic outpost in the Indian Ocean.

As is the way in these things as the Islanders were celebrating so the Foreign Office said it was considering an appeal to the House of Lords. What must happen now is that the British and American governments put aside their pride and agree to fund the return of the Chagossians to resettle and rebuild their homelands. Their are approximately 6,000 islanders scattered across the countries of East Africa, the Indian Ocean and beyond and some 5,000 would like to return home. Having been guilty of the worst kind of medieval feudalism in evicting the Islanders, the least the respective governments can do is support their return financially.

We've been here before though, hence my title, in 2000 the Islanders won the right to return home and Robin Cook actually accepted the verdict, unfortuantely his office overturned the verdict by using a little-used executive power which was yesterday ruled illegal. If the words self-dertermination and democracy really do have any meaning in the 21st Century then we must not let this victory be turned into a draw.

Incidentally I can't help thinking that when the Islanders do return they might have to do some work on the tourist side of things, the current Chagos Island pictures probably only appeal to a certain group of people - they are here