Silence of the Chagos

Silence of the Chagos PDF Author: Shenaz Patel
Publisher: Restless Books
ISBN: 1632062348
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Based on a true, still-unfolding story, Silence of the Chagos is a powerful exploration of cultural identity, the concept of home, and above all the neverending desire for justice. Shenaz Patel draws on the lives of exiled Chagossians in this tragic example of 20th century political oppression. Every afternoon a woman in a red headscarf walks to the end of the quay and looks out over the water, fixing her gaze “back there”: to Diego Garcia, one of the small islands forming the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. With no explanation, no forewarning, and only an hour to pack their belongings, the Chagossians are deported to Mauritius. Officials tell her that the island is “closed”— there is no going back for any of them. Charlesia longs for life on Diego Garcia, where the days were spent working on a coconut plantation; the nights dancing to sega music. As she struggles to come to terms with her new reality, Charlesia crosses paths with Désiré, a young man born on the one-way journey to Mauritius. Désiré has never set foot on Diego Garcia, but as Charlesia unfolds the dramatic story of his people, he learns of the home he never knew and the disrupted future of his people. With the sovereignty of Chagos currently being debated on an international judiciary level, Silence of the Chagos is an important and timely examination of the rights of individuals in the face of governmental corruption. Praise for Silence of the Chagos: “Some twenty years ago, I was struck by a photo showing barefoot women on the road facing the armed police. They were Chagossian women protesting in Mauritius with astonishing determination.” This photo, which she's never forgotten, is the inspiration for the Mauritian novelist and journalist Shenaz Patel's third book. Mingling various voice, Patel describes, in a bitter, clear-cut style, the tragedy of the inhabitants of the Chagos, those coral islands of the Indian Ocean that were turned into an American military base and whose inhabitants had been banished to Mauritius between 1967 and 1972. With a prose that seeps and stings, and a sharp sensibility, Shenaz Patel breathes life into the painful nostalgia, the lingering memories, and the eternal incomprehension of these expelled from a string of lost islands.” —Le Monde “This novel has two voices, those of Charlesia and Désiré, both of whom are foreigners, natives of the Chagos archipelago, living in exile in Mauritius, an island that is a paradise for some but a hell for them. The Chagos are an archipelago that would have been hidden in the depths of the Indian Ocean, had Americans not built a military base to bombard other countries. Charlesia and Désiré live and breathe; the Mauritian writer Shenaz Patel introduces us to them and gives them voice again.” —Libération “From scenes of daily life to the horrors of forced exile, through the grief of deculturation and the experience of an impossible identity, Patel interrogates the relationship between political expediency and its all-too-human consequences, between the abstract needs of international security and the concrete needs of the individual, and above all between the rich and the poor.” —L'Express

Silence of the Chagos

Silence of the Chagos PDF Author: Shenaz Patel
Publisher: Restless Books
ISBN: 1632062348
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Get Book Here

Book Description
Based on a true, still-unfolding story, Silence of the Chagos is a powerful exploration of cultural identity, the concept of home, and above all the neverending desire for justice. Shenaz Patel draws on the lives of exiled Chagossians in this tragic example of 20th century political oppression. Every afternoon a woman in a red headscarf walks to the end of the quay and looks out over the water, fixing her gaze “back there”: to Diego Garcia, one of the small islands forming the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. With no explanation, no forewarning, and only an hour to pack their belongings, the Chagossians are deported to Mauritius. Officials tell her that the island is “closed”— there is no going back for any of them. Charlesia longs for life on Diego Garcia, where the days were spent working on a coconut plantation; the nights dancing to sega music. As she struggles to come to terms with her new reality, Charlesia crosses paths with Désiré, a young man born on the one-way journey to Mauritius. Désiré has never set foot on Diego Garcia, but as Charlesia unfolds the dramatic story of his people, he learns of the home he never knew and the disrupted future of his people. With the sovereignty of Chagos currently being debated on an international judiciary level, Silence of the Chagos is an important and timely examination of the rights of individuals in the face of governmental corruption. Praise for Silence of the Chagos: “Some twenty years ago, I was struck by a photo showing barefoot women on the road facing the armed police. They were Chagossian women protesting in Mauritius with astonishing determination.” This photo, which she's never forgotten, is the inspiration for the Mauritian novelist and journalist Shenaz Patel's third book. Mingling various voice, Patel describes, in a bitter, clear-cut style, the tragedy of the inhabitants of the Chagos, those coral islands of the Indian Ocean that were turned into an American military base and whose inhabitants had been banished to Mauritius between 1967 and 1972. With a prose that seeps and stings, and a sharp sensibility, Shenaz Patel breathes life into the painful nostalgia, the lingering memories, and the eternal incomprehension of these expelled from a string of lost islands.” —Le Monde “This novel has two voices, those of Charlesia and Désiré, both of whom are foreigners, natives of the Chagos archipelago, living in exile in Mauritius, an island that is a paradise for some but a hell for them. The Chagos are an archipelago that would have been hidden in the depths of the Indian Ocean, had Americans not built a military base to bombard other countries. Charlesia and Désiré live and breathe; the Mauritian writer Shenaz Patel introduces us to them and gives them voice again.” —Libération “From scenes of daily life to the horrors of forced exile, through the grief of deculturation and the experience of an impossible identity, Patel interrogates the relationship between political expediency and its all-too-human consequences, between the abstract needs of international security and the concrete needs of the individual, and above all between the rich and the poor.” —L'Express

Chagos Islanders in Mauritius and the UK

Chagos Islanders in Mauritius and the UK PDF Author: Laura Jeffery
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 184779789X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
The Chagos islanders were forcibly uprooted from the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean between 1965 and 1973. This is the first book to compare the experiences of displaced Chagos islanders in Mauritius with the experiences of those Chagossians who have moved to the UK since 2002. It thus provides a unique ethnographic comparative study of forced displacement and onward migration within the living memory of one community. Based on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork in Mauritius and Crawley (West Sussex), the six chapters explore Chagossians’ challenging lives in Mauritius, the mobilisation of the community, reformulations of the homeland, the politics of culture in exile, onward migration to Crawley, and attempts to make a home in successive locations. Jeffery illuminates how displaced people romanticise their homeland through an exploration of changing representations of the Chagos Archipelago in song lyrics. Offering further ethnographic insights into the politics of culture, she shows how Chagossians in exile engage with contrasting conceptions of culture ranging from expectations of continuity and authenticity to enactments of change, loss and revival. The book will appeal particularly to social scientists specialising in the fields of migration studies, the anthropology of displacement, political and legal anthropology, African studies, Indian Ocean studies, and the anthropology of Britain, as well as to readers interested in the Chagossian case study.

The Chagos Betrayal

The Chagos Betrayal PDF Author: Florian Grosset
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781912408672
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
During the cold war, the US government sought to establish an overseas military presence in the Indian Ocean. This graphic novel is a shocking account of British complicity in the forced exodus of the Chagos Islanders from their homeland to make that plan possible.

The Chagos Archipelago

The Chagos Archipelago PDF Author: Charles Sheppard
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040016944
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
This book is the story of the natural history of Chagos Archipelago, and of the efforts of many to get it recognized as an important and protected wildlife reserve. Exploring its immense natural riches and biodiversity, both on islands and in the marine environment, this book addresses competing claims to its resources, its politics, and the desire of some commercial and political parties to exploit the area. It is about the fight to conserve a wonderland of biodiversity and obtain its protection from exploitation, especially of its reefs and other marine life. This book shows the importance of the Chagos Archipelago and why so much research was done there. Rather than being a typical research book, this work presents research in a narrative form and describes the now substantial Government, UN, and legal interest in the archipelago since the UK was told to ‘decolonise’ it. It is also the story of our planet in miniature: the archipelago encapsulates much of the world’s conservation tribulations in a way we can much more easily understand. This narrative will explore the difficulties faced by the Chagos Archipelago, including displaced people, old and derelict industries (coconut in this case), the military, politics, rich and untouched ecosystems that some want to exploit, ruined habitats on land, climate change, and territorial claims. It will examine how all of these factors have affected the natural history, biodiversity, and conservation of the archipelago. With beautiful photography of the Chagos Archipelago coral reefs and islands, as well as graphs indicating their findings, this book offers professionals, researchers, academics, and students in conservation and biodiversity an insight into one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems. It is also accessible for non‐academic readers with an interest in climate change, biodiversity, and the importance of conservation.

The International Court of Justice and Decolonisation

The International Court of Justice and Decolonisation PDF Author: Thomas Burri
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108841279
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Reflections on the ICJ's Chagos Advisory Opinion and its broader context: British colonialism, US military interests, and human rights violations.

The Chagos Islanders and International Law

The Chagos Islanders and International Law PDF Author: Stephen Allen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782254757
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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Book Description
In 1965, the UK excised the Chagos Islands from the colony of Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in connection with the founding of a US military facility on the island of Diego Garcia. Consequently, the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands were secretly exiled to Mauritius, where they became chronically impoverished. This book considers the resonance of international law for the Chagos Islanders. It advances the argument that BIOT constitutes a 'Non-Self-Governing Territory' pursuant to the provisions of Chapter XI of the UN Charter and for the wider purposes of international law. In addition, the book explores the extent to which the right of self-determination, indigenous land rights and a range of obligations contained in applicable human rights treaties could support the Chagossian right to return to BIOT. However, the rights of the Chagos Islanders are premised on the assumption that the UK possesses a valid sovereignty claim over BIOT. The evidence suggests that this claim is questionable and it is disputed by Mauritius. Consequently, the Mauritian claim threatens to compromise the entitlements of the Chagos Islanders in respect of BIOT as a matter of international law. This book illustrates the ongoing problems arising from international law's endorsement of the territorial integrity of colonial units for the purpose of decolonisation at the expense of the countervailing claims of colonial self-determination by non-European peoples that inhabited the same colonial unit. The book uses the competing claims to the Chagos Islands to demonstrate the need for a more nuanced approach to the resolution of sovereignty disputes resulting from the legacy of European colonialism.

Eviction from the Chagos Islands

Eviction from the Chagos Islands PDF Author: Sandra Evers
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004202609
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This book represents the first joint effort to document the historical background of the eviction (late 1960s, early 1970s) of the Chagosssians from the Chagos archipelago when the main island became an US-military base. It documents their eviction, resettlement, livelihoods, legal struggles and future aspirations.

The Chagos Islanders and International Law

The Chagos Islanders and International Law PDF Author: Stephen Allen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782254749
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
In 1965, the UK excised the Chagos Islands from the colony of Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in connection with the founding of a US military facility on the island of Diego Garcia. Consequently, the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands were secretly exiled to Mauritius, where they became chronically impoverished. This book considers the resonance of international law for the Chagos Islanders. It advances the argument that BIOT constitutes a 'Non-Self-Governing Territory' pursuant to the provisions of Chapter XI of the UN Charter and for the wider purposes of international law. In addition, the book explores the extent to which the right of self-determination, indigenous land rights and a range of obligations contained in applicable human rights treaties could support the Chagossian right to return to BIOT. However, the rights of the Chagos Islanders are premised on the assumption that the UK possesses a valid sovereignty claim over BIOT. The evidence suggests that this claim is questionable and it is disputed by Mauritius. Consequently, the Mauritian claim threatens to compromise the entitlements of the Chagos Islanders in respect of BIOT as a matter of international law. This book illustrates the ongoing problems arising from international law's endorsement of the territorial integrity of colonial units for the purpose of decolonisation at the expense of the countervailing claims of colonial self-determination by non-European peoples that inhabited the same colonial unit. The book uses the competing claims to the Chagos Islands to demonstrate the need for a more nuanced approach to the resolution of sovereignty disputes resulting from the legacy of European colonialism.

Memoir Concerning the Chagos and Adjacent Islands

Memoir Concerning the Chagos and Adjacent Islands PDF Author: Alexander Dalrymple
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : British Indian Ocean Territory
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description


The Chagos Archipelago Case in the International Court of Justice

The Chagos Archipelago Case in the International Court of Justice PDF Author: Prof. Dr. h.c. Mehmet _ŸkrŸ GŸzel
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 179488775X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
?Full implementation of Article 73 of the UN Charter is an obligation for the administrative states as well for the UK for the territorial integrity of Mauritius. The Lancaster House Undertakings is under the ex injuria jus non oritur principle, that unjust acts cannot create law. The UK did not fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by Article 73 in accordance with Article 2 (2) of the UN`s Charter. The Advisory Opinion interpreted by the ICJ is Article 38 (1) (b) created a new colony;the ICJ should have used Article 38 (1) (a) as the source of law for its decision.The decision of the ICJ is under the definition of an internationally wrongful act of an international organization by interpreting Article 38 (1) (b) of its Statute as the source for the Advisory Opinion interpretation.