Ousted Chagos Islanders Could Make "Eco-Living"
Date: 10-Sep-07
Country: MAURITIUS
Author: Ed Harris
Britain ejected some 2,000 islanders from their tropical
archipelago during the Cold War to make way for the US
military base on Diego Garcia island, which has since been used
for military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The British government had tried to block their return but
suffered its third legal defeat in May, when Britain's High
Court said the right to go home was "one of the most fundamental
liberties known to human beings".
John Howell, a senior research associate at the Overseas
Development Institute, an independent think tank based in
London, is helping prepare a 10-year resettlement strategy based
around environmental sustainability and economic viability.
"Clearly coconuts might be one source of income. Coconut
prices are quite low, and there are major transport costs, but
that was the original basis of the islands," he told Reuters.
Fishing, fishing rights and high-value ecotourism were also
likely sources of income, he said, refusing to put a figure on
the cash needed for a resettlement.
"You can possibly even get enough money for tourism through
private investment to pay for an airstrip," he said after an
open meeting of the Chagos Refugee Group in a Mauritian suburb.
Such improvements would "transform things", he added.
The refugees led by Olivier Bancoult have spearheaded the
legal battle against the British government. It is now looking
to resettle up to about 1,000 islanders on the Salomon Islands
and Peros Banhos, two of the Chagos archipelago's six atolls.
The Chagossians would likely be approaching a range of
donors for support including the British government, the
European Union, and American foundations including those with an
environmental interest, Howell said.
"Once you've settled people on a fragile atoll like that,
you've got to be very careful about water use, drainage, about
people fishing offshore, all these things," he said.
"A coral reef needs to be protected."
The islanders would also have to have enough skills between
them to manage facilities such as a small harbour, he said.
Estimated at about 5,000 people, many Chagossians have taken
advantage of their new British passports to settle in Britain.
