The United States and the United Kingdom have been accused of “crimes against humanity” in the Chagos Islands

The United States and the United Kingdom were charged on Wednesday (15) with crimes against humanity for transporting people from the disputed Indian Chagos archipelago, made up of more than 60 tropical islands.

The complaint was submitted by the NGO Human Rights Watch. At the time, they claimed, London, with the support of Washington, had practiced “racial oppression” in this archipelago in northeastern Mauritius.

Chagos Islands dispute

The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls that includes more than 60 tropical islands located in the Indian Ocean. It is currently part of British territory and since 1965 has owned a British and American military base. At that time, nearly 2,000 local residents were expelled from the neighboring Republic of Mauritius and Seychelles.

For the NGO, the work of the UK and the US constitutes the following crimes: the ongoing colonial crime of forced displacement and racial and ethnic persecution of the UK.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said that while respecting the work of the NGO, “This characterization of facts is categorically rejected“.

In addition, he also reported that the government is committed to a large support package and a new path to British citizenship launched in November last year.

source: UOL