DeepSummary
The British Empire and the United States Department of Defense colluded to forcibly remove the indigenous Chagossian people from their island homes in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. This was done to allow the construction of a major U.S. military base on the island of Diego Garcia. Through deceiving the Chagossians and outright lies, the British authorities encouraged migration away from the islands before ultimately ordering their complete depopulation in 1971. The Chagossians were denied their rights as British citizens and given no compensation for being expelled from their ancestral homes and separated from their land, possessions, and communities.
The process of removing the Chagossians was marked by great cruelty and callousness. Many families were divided and suffered immensely, with some dying of sadness or falling into poverty and addiction after being dumped in foreign countries like Mauritius. The U.S. Navy was aware of these human rights abuses but explicitly adopted a policy of letting the British carry them out to avoid accountability. Appallingly, British authorities even ordered the gassing and burning of the Chagossians' pet dogs to ensure the islands were uninhabited.
While court cases have found the expulsions were unlawful, the Chagossian diaspora still has not been allowed to return permanently to the islands. Both governments have ignored rulings and pleas to resettle the Chagossians, citing vague "security" reasons and supposed costs - which pale in comparison to the spending on foreign wars and the royal family. The strategic military value of Diego Garcia has allowed the injustice against the Chagossian people to continue with impunity for over 50 years.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The British Empire and United States conspired to remove the indigenous Chagossian people from their island homes through deception, violence, and ethnic cleansing in order to build a U.S. military base on Diego Garcia.
- Despite court rulings deeming the expulsions unlawful, the British and American governments have denied the displaced Chagossians the right to return to their ancestral homeland for over 50 years.
- The process of depopulating the Chagos Islands was carried out with shocking cruelty and callousness towards the Chagossians, including separating families, denying their rights, withholding compensation, and even killing their pets.
- The strategic military value of the Diego Garcia base to enable power projection into the Middle East and oil trade routes has allowed the injustice against the Chagossian people to continue with impunity by both governments.
- The expulsion of the Chagossians represented a violent continuation of the racist, colonial and imperial mindsets that previously enabled slavery, ethnic cleansing and subjugation of indigenous populations.
- Through lies, bureaucratic obfuscation, and ignoring of laws and human rights, the British and American governments demonstrated a willingness to trample on the lives of a small, vulnerable population for perceived military interests.
- The plight of the displaced Chagossians and their ongoing struggle to return to their rightful homes on the islands represents a modern-day humanitarian tragedy enabled by government overreach and lack of accountability.
- The Chagos expulsions set a dangerous precedent of might making right over human rights and rule of law in international disputes over strategic territories.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “To this is a Mister Bean shit, by the way.“ by Andrew C. (Guest)
- “My life has been buried. It is as if I was pulled from my paradise to put me in hell. Everything here you need to buy. I don't have the means to buy them. My children go without eating. How am I supposed to bear this life?“ by Rita Bancoult (quoted by Robert Evans)
- “Naturally, I shall not suggest to him that some of these also have uk nationality. Always possible that they may spot this point, in which case, presumably we will have to come clean.“ by British High Commission in Mauritius memo (quoted by Robert Evans)
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Episode Information
Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
6/20/24
Robert killed a man in Reno, just to watch him die. Also he concludes the story of the murder of the Chagos Islands by the U.S. and the ailing British Empire. With bonus Dog Genocide!
Behind the Bastards is doing it's annual fundraiser for the Portland Diaper Bank! We had a soft start a week or so ago but will actually be plugging it this week and next. Please help if you can!
Sources:
https://archive.is/KvGqw#selection-1769.0-1781.535
Vine, David. Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (p. 18). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/2/25/how-britain-forcefully-depopulated-a-whole-archipelago/
https://archive.org/details/webofdeceitbrita0000curt/page/432/mode/2up?q=chagos
https://journals.openedition.org/oceanindien/2003
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