This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/03/falklands-self-determination-chagos-people
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The Falklands and self-determination | The Falklands and self-determination |
| (21 days later) | |
| New negotiations on the Falklands are apparently ruled out because their future "can only be decided by the islanders in accordance with the UN principle of self-determination" (Hand back the Falklands, Argentina tells Cameron, 3 January). | New negotiations on the Falklands are apparently ruled out because their future "can only be decided by the islanders in accordance with the UN principle of self-determination" (Hand back the Falklands, Argentina tells Cameron, 3 January). |
| Can we expect the government to follow the same principle on the rights of the Chagos people in relation to their Diego Garcia home? They are British citizens, roughly the same number as inhabit the Falkland Islands, and had lived in Diego Garcia since the 18th century. Their expulsion followed the purchase of their islands in 1965 by the UK in order to provide the US with a military airbase. | Can we expect the government to follow the same principle on the rights of the Chagos people in relation to their Diego Garcia home? They are British citizens, roughly the same number as inhabit the Falkland Islands, and had lived in Diego Garcia since the 18th century. Their expulsion followed the purchase of their islands in 1965 by the UK in order to provide the US with a military airbase. |
| Despite every legal effort on their behalf they have been prevented ever since from returning home. A referendum among them would certainly produce a similar result as that among the Falkland Islanders will no doubt shortly demonstrate. | Despite every legal effort on their behalf they have been prevented ever since from returning home. A referendum among them would certainly produce a similar result as that among the Falkland Islanders will no doubt shortly demonstrate. |
| Why should the Chagos Islanders be treated differently? One could infer that the imposed absence from their home, in stark contrast to undertaking a huge military effort in the South Atlantic to maintain the Falkland Islanders in theirs, has its roots in their different origins. Michael Meadowcroft Leeds | Why should the Chagos Islanders be treated differently? One could infer that the imposed absence from their home, in stark contrast to undertaking a huge military effort in the South Atlantic to maintain the Falkland Islanders in theirs, has its roots in their different origins. Michael Meadowcroft Leeds |
| • History teaches many things, not least the importance of applying perspective over long periods of time. In calling Britain's original settlement of the Falklands "a blatant exercise in 19th-century colonialism", has Argentina's president not noticed the delicious irony when her country is itself a blatant exercise in 16th-century colonialism? David Cain Tonbridge, Kent | • History teaches many things, not least the importance of applying perspective over long periods of time. In calling Britain's original settlement of the Falklands "a blatant exercise in 19th-century colonialism", has Argentina's president not noticed the delicious irony when her country is itself a blatant exercise in 16th-century colonialism? David Cain Tonbridge, Kent |
| • Surely anyone familiar with the work of Steve Bell knows that the time is long overdue to hand the Falklands to their rightful owners – the penguins. Keith Flett London | • Surely anyone familiar with the work of Steve Bell knows that the time is long overdue to hand the Falklands to their rightful owners – the penguins. Keith Flett London |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. |