{"id":6607,"date":"2010-04-04T00:51:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-04T09:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=6607"},"modified":"2010-04-04T00:51:16","modified_gmt":"2010-04-04T09:21:16","slug":"uk-designates-chagos-marine-reserve-but-right-of-return-for-chagos-refugees-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=6607","title":{"rendered":"UK designates Chagos marine reserve, but right of return for Chagos refugees unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to this AP article, the UK has outdone the US and created the largest marine reserve in the world in Chagos, surpassing the Papahanaumokuakea national marine monument.\u00a0 However, as the Times reported earlier<\/a> this environmentally friendly move may make it more difficult for the evicted Chagos islanders to return to their island home in Diego Garcia, now a strategic U.S. military base.\u00a0\u00a0 The Papahanaumoku national marine monument in the northwestern Hawaiian islands was a groundbreaking environmental measure, but it included exemptions for the U.S. military to operate in the reserve.\u00a0\u00a0 Chamoru fishing people and rights activists are afraid that a similar marine monument proposed for the Mariana islands could give the federal government more control over indigenous subsistence resources.\u00a0 At least Greenpeace recognizes the Chagossian struggle:<\/p>\n

“The creation of this marine reserve is a first step towards securing a better and sustainable future for the Chagos Islands,” said Greenpeace activist Willie Mackenzie. “But this future must include securing justice for the Chagossian people and the closure and removal of the Diego Garcia military base.”<\/p>\n

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http:\/\/hosted2.ap.org\/HIHON\/117a0477c44849128ee910aa1d0181d9\/Article_2010-04-01-EU-Britain-Marine-Reserve\/id-p51a71e31adf24909bc6aeb6d7009f6a7<\/a><\/p>\n

Apr. 1, 2010 3:18 PM EDT<\/p>\n

UK creates world’s largest marine reserve<\/h2>\n

DAVID STRINGERDAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer<\/p>\n

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Britain said Thursday it will create the world’s largest marine reserve by banning fishing around the U.K.-owned archipelago in the Indian Ocean \u2014 a cluster of 55 islands across about a quarter of a million square miles of ocean.<\/p>\n

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said commercial fishing will be halted around the Chagos Islands to allow scientific research and the preservation of coral reefs and an estimated 60 endangered species.<\/p>\n

His ministry insisted the move would not affect operations on the island of Diego Garcia, which Britain leases to the U.S. military for use as a base. Miliband told lawmakers in 2008 that the U.S. had belatedly informed Britain it had used Diego Garcia as a stop for CIA extraordinary rendition flights.<\/p>\n

Conservation groups and scientists welcomed the move to protect waters around the islands, reputedly some of the world’s cleanest ocean, and claimed it would become as important for research as the Great Barrier Reef or Galapagos Islands.<\/p>\n

“The territory offers great scope for research in all fields of oceanography, biodiversity and many aspects of climate change, which are core research issues for U.K. science,” Miliband said Thursday, announcing the decision.<\/p>\n

Halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia, the Chagos Islands have been frequently controversial for the British government.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Human Rights is considering a long running appeal from Chagossians evicted from their homes to nearby Mauritius between 1967 and 1973 to make way for the military base. Islanders are seeking to return to their former homes.<\/p>\n

“The creation of this marine reserve is a first step towards securing a better and sustainable future for the Chagos Islands,” said Greenpeace activist Willie Mackenzie. “But this future must include securing justice for the Chagossian people and the closure and removal of the Diego Garcia military base.”<\/p>\n

Miliband said the protected zone would cover 210,000 square miles (544,000 square kilometers) of ocean, which is home to about 220 types of coral, 1,000 species of fish and 33 different seabirds.<\/p>\n

The Chagos Environment Network \u2014 a coalition of ocean scientists \u2014 said the area will replace the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, in Hawaii, as the world’s largest marine reserve.<\/p>\n

Miliband said Britain has agreed to transfer control of the territory to Mauritius “when it is no longer needed for defense purposes,” but has not specified any timeframe.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the lease of Diego Garcia, the U.S. military can remain on the island until at least 2036.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to this AP article, the UK has outdone the US and created the largest marine reserve in the world in Chagos, surpassing the Papahanaumokuakea national marine monument.\u00a0 However, as the Times reported earlier this environmentally friendly move may make it more difficult for the evicted Chagos islanders to return to their island home in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “UK designates Chagos marine reserve, but right of return for Chagos refugees unclear”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2409],"class_list":["post-6607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-movements-resistance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6607"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6609,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6607\/revisions\/6609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}