The Chagos Archipelago is made up of over 55 islands. The website collects documents, photographs, videos, and other materials and shares them freely online for anyone in the world. After emancipation, indentured Indians arrive helping to form a new, unique society and a people first known as the Ilwa. History 1 It was in 1776 that the first group of people was sent to the Chagos Islands and the settlement was on the Island of Diego Garcia. Chagos Archipelago Island History, British acquisition as Indian Ocean British Territory in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius Claim in ICJ . Although it includes some of what then happened between 1962 and 1973 when the last Ilois were removed after the detachment of the islands to form the British Indian ocean Territory, the account of this period is very cursory. The population grew, and the outer islands were also settled. The settlement of the Chagos It was only during the mid-1780s that the permanent settlement of the Chagos Archipelago began under French … The United Kingdom established the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 out of the Chagos Islands, part of Mauritius, and parts of the Seychelles. Since the 1980s, successive Mauritian governments have asserted a sovereignty claim to the islands, arguing that they were detached illegally. The Chagos Archipelago (/ ˈ tʃ ɑː ɡ oʊ s / or / ˈ tʃ ɑː ɡ ə s /) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archipelago. The Chagossian people evolved their own distinctive Creole language and their own culture. It consists of five atolls, including The Great Chagos Bank - … We are people of African, Indian and Malay ancestry who inhabited the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos and the Salomon … The Chagos Archipelago (/ ˈ tʃ ɑː ɡ ə s,-ɡ oʊ s /) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, [3] and later the Oil Islands) are a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archipelago. France, which had already colonised Réunion (called Isle Bourbon) in 1649, claimed Mauritius (Isle de France) in 1721; it subsequently took possession of the Seychelles group and the islands of the Chagos Archipelago. However, there was no welcome for them, no support and yet again, no plan for integration. The U.K government, at the request of the United States, began to expel the Chagossian people from their homeland between 1967 and 1973. History of the Chagos Archipelago The history of the Chagos Archipelago has been short and chequered. : Put new text under old text. Thereafter, the judgements revealed that the Chagossians should never have been sent to Mauritius and as a consequence, all native born Chagossians were granted British nationality in 2002. After the abolition of slavery in 1835, laborers were brought from India to work in the coconut plantations. This brutal ‘welcome’ has left families divided and penniless, without the skills or resources to integrate well into the U.K. Although, this right only extended to their children if they were born between two arbitrary dates. The Chagos Archipelago is a group of six atolls with more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, that lies about 500 km (300 miles) due south of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and 1600 km (1000 miles) southwest of India, halfway between Africa and Indonesia.Comprising the British Indian Ocean Territory, the entire archipelago is a British overseas territory. First inhabitants arrive in Chagos Archipelago as enslaved Africans. Many of them intermarried with the inhabitants, thus becoming ancestors to some of today’s Chagossians. Our History. As well as paying for transport to the U.K, Chagossians also had to pay for the immigration and permanent residency of close family members, including their own children. The Chagossian people were sent to Mauritius and the Seychelles, where they were dumped on the quays without any plan of resettlement or any such help with integrating into those countries. Because many different forms of life call it home, from the coral reefs to the various species that live on more than 55 islands. Although this is a long way from the UK, it is still directly relevant to those in the UK. The first successful colony was founded on Diego Garcia in 1793 under the French rule. 550 pages. Many Chagossians migrated to the U.K at their own expense, to claim their birth right. This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Chagos Archipelago article. Various legal challenges and judgements resulted in the Chagossians repeatedly being denied the right to return to their islands. No Chagossians now inhabit the island, which once was home to … The Chagos Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean, and forms the British Indian Ocean Territory. The islands, which are home to US military base Diego Garcia, were separated from the former British territory of Mauritius during decolonization in 1968. ISBN 978-0-9954596-0-1. Eventually they were rescued and brought back home. For several decades the Chagos archipelago has been the cause of a dispute between Mauritius and the U.K., over the decision in 1965 to separate Diego Garcia from the rest of the archipelago for setting up the military base, in collaboration with the U.S. Mauritius, a British colony, achieved independence in 1968 but the U.K. refused to return the Chagos archipelago, claiming … The entire land area of the islands is a … Why is the Chagos Archipelago so important? This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. History The Chagos Archipelago is a group of 65 main tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, lying 500km south of the Maldives. The book can be purchased here: YPD Books. By then, the Indian Ocean and its African, Arabian and Indian coasts had become a centre of rivalry between the Dutch, French and British East India companies for dominance over the spice trade and over the routes to India and the Far East. Published by The Chagos Conservation Trust 2017. They went on to build one of the most important US military bases outside of the United States. The islands of the Chagos Archipelago were uninhabited until the late 18th century, when the French established copra plantations using slave labour in 1793. London: Chagos Conservation Trust. The Chagos islands were first discovered, uninhabited, in the 16th century. The Chagos islands were first discovered, uninhabited, in the 16th century. The scars of this traumatic experience of living in enforced exile are still visible in our community today. Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the Chagos Archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build the air base on Diego Garcia. Atoll Research Bulletin 149:209-217, 'Their homecoming is not yet out of reach, not yet out of sight', Competing Claims to the Sea around Chagos, The British High Commissioners Valdedictory 2004, Damage from Military Anchoring in the Lagoon, Arbitral Tribunal under Annex VII of UNCLOS. Independence was granted to Mauritius, but only after the Chagos islands were illegally separated from the territory by the British government in November 1965, by an order in council and renamed British Indian Ocean Territories. The territory doesn't have self-government. …Seychelles colony, along with the Chagos Archipelago, formerly part of the Mauritius colony. The Archipelago was discovered by the Portuguese in 1512 when Pedro de Mascarenhas undertook a voyage of exploration into the Indian Ocean from 1512 to 1513. It is home to an astonishing diversity of life, and acts as a refuge for many threatened species. We are people of African, Indian and Malay ancestry who inhabited the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos and the Salomon island chain, as well as other parts of the Chagos Archipelago situated in the Indian Ocean from the late 18th to the late 20th century. From 1773 to 1810, the importance of the Chagos was greater than that of the island of Rodrigues. The islands have been settled for less than 250 years and human activities have been conditioned, both commercially and militarily, from outside. Click here to start a new topic. Chagos Islands: UK refusal to return archipelago to Mauritius show the limits of international law November 26, 2019 11.10am EST Miriam Bak McKenna , Lund University It provides the definitive history of human discovery and habitation of the Chagos archipelago up to the point of de facto possession by the USA’s military. Ask questions, get answers. During the Napoleonic wars Britain captured Mauritius and Réunion from the French. They gradually integrated in the Chagossian society. The Chagos Islands are a group of islands located in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos Archipelago is made up of 65 coral islands in the Indian Ocean; it lies midway between Africa and Asia, 500 km south of the Maldives. They were often treated as second class citizens, they were left uneducated and resided in slums. The islands were discovered in the early sixteenth century by the Portuguese. The book is dedicated to "all those who, from the 1770s to the 1970s, were fated to spend their lives on the islands of Chagos". (2011) Paradise claimed: disputed sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. ; New to Wikipedia? According to Southern Maldivian oral tradition, local traders and fishermen were occasionally lost at sea and became stranded in one of the islands of the Chagos. Slaves were brought from Mozambique and Madagascar to work in the Coconut plantations, which were later established on many of the atolls and isolated islands of the Archipelago. The Chagos Archipelago consists of over 50 small islands in the Indian Ocean. The former parts of the Seychelles are returned to Seychelles in 1976. The Chagos islands continued to be administered as a dependency of Mauritius until they were detached to become part of the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965. The entire land area is a mere 56.1 km, with the largest island, Diego Garcia, having an area of 32.5 km2. The Chagos Archipelago is made up of 65 coral islands in the Indian Ocean; it lies midway between Africa and Asia, 500 km south of the Maldives. A major British-U.S. military facility was built on Diego Garcia in 1971, and the plantations there were closed. All these dependencies continued to be administered from Mauritius until 1903, when the Seychelles group was detached to form a separate Crown Colony. “ (a) Was the process of decolonization of Mauritius lawfully completed when Mauritius was granted independence in 1968, following the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius and having regard to international law, including obligations reflected in General Assembly resolutions 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, 2066 (XX) of 16 December 1965, 2232 (XXI) of 20 December 1966 … The image at the head of the page is an aerial shot of East Point Plantation from the lagoon. The late 1960’s and early 1970’s, saw an abrupt end to this unique and peaceful way of life. Under the treaty of Paris in 1814, Britain restored Réunion to France, and France ceded to Britain Mauritius and its dependencies, which comprised Seychelles and various other islands, including the Chagos Archipelago. The Chagos Islands were a part of the French colony of Mauritius which was taken over by the British Empire in 1814. History. Exploration records the first people to settle on the islands in 1776, and the tough struggle to establish a sustainable existence. However, these islands were judged to be too far away from the Maldives to be settled permanently by Maldivians. The UK must return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius "as rapidly as possible," the United Nations' highest court ruled recently, branding its occupation of the Indian Ocean archipelago illegal. After the British Indian Ocean Territory had been created, the UK Government gave an undertaking to return the Chagos islands to Mauritius when they were no longer required for defence purposes. History. First inhabitants arrive in Chagos Archipelago as enslaved Africans. The fate of an entire defenceless population would be sealed by the U.K. and the US with the complicity of Mauritius. Geography. 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