UK Could Only Offer Symbolic Reparations to Displaced Chagossians: Expert

If the United Kingdom is going to provide compensation to the displaced Chagossian people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago occupied by the UK near the African coasts of the Indian Ocean, the reparations could be "only symbolic at best", and it would be a “drop in a bucket" compared to what was taken from the Chagossians, believes Konstantia Koutouki, professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Chagossians were forced by the British to leave the islands following London's decision to establish a joint military base with the United States on the occupied territory.

Over decades, the expelled islanders have fought, through demonstrations and legal suits in British courts, to have the right to return to their homeland. Despite the fact that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that London must end its "unlawful" administration of the Indian Ocean territory, the Chagossians have not be able to reclaim their land yet.

On February 15, Human Rights Watch said in a report that the UK and the US should "provide full, unconditional, and effective reparations" to the people of the Chagos islands and their descendants, who are denied their right to permanently return, "based on meaningful and effective consultation with them." The report also accused the two countries of committing a crime against humanity by treating the islanders as people without rights and forcing them to leave their homes.

Commenting on the impact of the HRW report, professor Koutouki dismissed it as being not more than a "regular" affirmation by a recognized third party of "the plight of the people of Chagos." However, she added that she believes the report was "another indictment" of the actions of the UK and the US to "add to a long list of legal confirmations that their actions were and still are contrary to international law and ethically dubious."

Speaking of decolonization issues in general, the expert explained that much of the international law issues were "resolved by default", while issues such as reparations "are what remain to legally resolve."

In some colonies, such as Canada and Australia, where the colonizers became a "permanent fixture", things are complicated, and the problem there is "not a legal one but a political one."

"Politically, it is not possible to imagine a day where the international legal community will ask people in Canada that are not Indigenous to leave and return the land to the Indigenous Peoples of that area. Canada and others have been condemned many times on the international level for their treatment of Indigenous Peoples, the problem here is not a legal one but a political one," Koutouki explained.

Regarding the case of the Chagossian people, the scholar admitted that it is "unique" in the sense that it does not fall into either of the mentioned categories.

"Cases such as the people of Chagos are unique," said Koutouki. "They have not established independence, but their land has not become the home of others either. It is simply a military base. It is hard to see why the two cannot co-exist. There are military bases in many places where the local population has not been relocated."

The professor said that she does not believe that there will be "any movement on reparations" for the period of colonization in the near future, since the former colonizers will not be able to pay compensation to all the affected peoples.

"Pretty much all great powers and many lesser ones today would have to pay very large sums. The amounts in reality are incalculable," Koutouki noted. "If any is ever given, it could be only symbolic at best. The Chagos case makes this clear. The sums that the Chagos people received are but a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to what was taken from them."

As for the substantive compensations that could be offered to Indigenous Peoples in general aside from a formal apology and true reparations, the law expert said that "the best form of restitution would be land and self-determination."

"For the Chagos Peoples in particular, there would need to be the right of return, meaning they can return permanently or semi-permanently. Many have built lives and raised families outside of Chagos and to live only in Chagos is not feasible after so many decades," she explained. "Of course, reparations would be necessary to build a community in Chagos."

Koutouki believes there is "no government, west, east, north, south and everyone in between" that ready to fully assume the responsibility for their predecessors' wrongdoings with regard to indigenous people. She added that the harm caused by Western colonizers is still ongoing and is expected to continue in the near future.

"Many governments deny the existence of Indigenous Peoples altogether, some have incredibly restrictive definitions, others fully acknowledge and celebrate Indigenous Peoples, but none have come even close to assuming responsibility for the harm caused," Koutouki assumed. "What is even worse is that the harm continues to be present today."

Occupied by Britain since the beginning of the 19th century, the Chagos archipelago, which was governed as part of the British colony of Mauritius, was not fully returned to the East African island nation when it won independence from the UK in 1968, as the European kingdom had decided, two years in advance, to establish a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of the 60 small islands of the Chagos archipelago.

The government of Port Louis and the Chagossians, the indigenous population of the archipelago that was forced to leave the island upon the establishment of the UK-US base, have long fought in British courts to get the occupied territory back.

However, in 2019, Mauritius' efforts were crowned with success after the International Court of Justice ruled that London must end its "unlawful" administration of the Indian Ocean territory. The UN's highest court's decision was followed by a General Assembly resolution that stressed, "The Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius," calling on the UK to withdraw within six months.

In spite of the court ruling, London has not withdrawn its troops from the Indian Ocean territory, with UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly saying, in November 2022, that his country was intending "to secure an agreement on the basis of international law to resolve all outstanding issues, including those relating to the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago."

In early January of this year, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced that the East African country and the UK have finally opened negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the disputed archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

'A Drop in the Bucket': UK Could Only Offer Symbolic Reparations to Displaced Chagossians: Expert