Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The tower destroyed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza includes media offices, including Al Mayadeen's bureau.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Four fetuses and three premature babies died at Nasser Medical Complex due to malnutrition
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: The missile force carried out a major operation using the Palestine 2 ballistic hypersonic missile, hitting several targets in occupied Yafa.

UK, US guilty of 'crimes against humanity' over Chagos Islands: HRW

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 15 Feb 2023 08:57
  • 6 Shares
4 Min Read

In a new 106-page report, HRW acknowledges that the UK's "racial persecution, and continued blocking of their return home" with Washington's support, constituted an "ongoing colonial crime."

  • x
  • Chagossians protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London. (AP)
    Chagossians protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London (AP)

"Britain and the United States are guilty of crimes against humanity in the forced displacement of indigenous people from the Chagos Islands." 

This is what Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday almost 55 years since the UK and the US forcibly evicted Chagossians from Diego Garcia.

Better late than never

In a new 106-page report, HRW acknowledged that the UK's "racial persecution, and continued blocking of their return home" with Washington's support, constituted an "ongoing colonial crime."

🚨Reminder!

New, ground-breaking @hrw report on ongoing colonial crimes by 🇬🇧 & 🇺🇸 against the people of Chagos, is going out on Wednesday.

With TWO launch events.

Reporters can register NOW for press conference in Mauritius⤵️https://t.co/nnajyEs9kC#JusticeMatters https://t.co/NtullcLz3A

— Jan Kooy is on Mastodon (@KooyJan) February 13, 2023

HRW urged the two countries to make full reparations to the Chagossian people, including the right to return to their homeland in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Clive Baldwin, HRW's senior legal advisor and lead author of the report, said, "The UK is today committing an appalling colonial crime, treating all Chagossians as a people without rights." 

"The UK and the US, who together expelled the Chagossians from their homes, should provide full reparations for the harm they have caused," he added.

Another "ongoing colonial crime"

In 1965, London chose to detach the archipelago from Mauritius, which was then part of the British colonies, and establish a joint military facility with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of the isles.

Related News

UK retains US base access as Chagos sovereignty transfers to Mauritius

UK ‘resolutely committed’ to its overseas territories, says Minister

It pursues administering them but Mauritius, which became an independent Commonwealth country in 1968, has long fought to return the islands to its territory and has gained international support for its cause.

A 2019 judgment by the International Court of Justice upheld its claim and declared Britain should relinquish control of the remote archipelago.

Later that year, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution declaring that "the Chagos Archipelago is an important part of the territory of Mauritius" and recommending that Britain leave within six months.

The Mauritian Prime Minister announced last month that talks have begun over the islands' sovereignty, following the UK's confirmation in November that it had agreed to discuss the islands' future.

However, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly affirmed in a written ministerial statement at the time that the countries had agreed the military base on Diego Garcia would continue to operate whatever the outcome.

HRW noted that there had been "no clear commitment to meaningful consultation with the Chagossians and to guarantee their right to reparations, including their right to return, in any settlement."

For its report, the New York-based organization interviewed dozens of people, including Chagossians and UK, US, and Mauritian authorities, and studied various documents.

It stated that it had discovered three crimes against humanity: a continuing colonial crime of forced displacement; the UK's refusal to allow their return home; and their persecution on the basis of race and ethnicity by the UK.

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) responded to the report by saying, "We respect the work Human Rights Watch does around the world, but we categorically reject this characterization of events. 

Meanwhile, the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment on the HRW report.

This comes a few days after Olivier Bancoult, Lisbey Elyse, Marie Suzelle Baptiste, Rosemonde Bertin and Marcel Humbert -- who were kicked out of the archipelago's inhabitants to make way for a US military base on the island, Diego Garcia -- came back for a visit to their birthplace.

At the time, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, told The Guardian that the trip to the Chagos islands was not in any way a "hostile act" aimed to "embarrass the UK," but rather than an "exercise of our sovereignty over part of our territory and that is in accordance with international law.”

He continued, “The UK has acted in violation of human rights and international law when it forcibly removed the Chagossians. Uprooting people from their place of birth and where they were living without any warning and putting them on a ship and just leaving them at the quay in Mauritius. And preventing them going back … That’s clearly a crime against humanity and it’s extraordinarily serious.”

Read next: Celebrating 70 years of British massacres!

  • Chagos Islands
  • US
  • British Empire
  • Colonialism
  • UK
  • US occupation

Most Read

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

American far-right activist Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Australia warned of deadly climate risks in landmark report
Environment

Millions at risk from rising seas, extreme heat in Australia: Report

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un inspects a new weapons factory in undisclosed location, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, August 31, 2025 (AP)
Politics

DPRK defies US, says nuclear state status 'permanently enshrined'

Soldier F faces trial over bloody Sunday killings after 53 years
Miscellaneous

British Soldier F faces trial over Bloody Sunday killings after 53 yrs

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate at the University of Sydney to protest the Israel Hamas war, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Protest outside ABC decries media silence on Gaza journalist killings

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS