Redress Wrongs Against the Chagossians.... A petition...

Dear Friends

One of my good friends from Mauritius alerted me to this petition. It is a petition to the U.S. Government to redress wrongs done to the Chagossians by the Americans and the British. Yes, you might say "What is this, a season of petitions? First "Stop Kony" and now this? C'mon, give me a break!" But the difference here is simple - in the latter case, the perpetrator was a foreigner, a so-called developed nation, and not someone inside their own country. Find below a reproduction of the petition:

For generations, the Chagossians lived on the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. But in the 1960s, the U.S. and U.K. governments expelled the Chagossians from their homes to allow the United States to build a military base on Diego Garcia. Facing social, cultural, and economic despair, the Chagossians now live as a marginalized community in Mauritius and Seychelles and have not been allowed to return home. The recent passing of the oldest member of the exiled population underscores the urgent need to improve the human rights of the Chagossians. We cannot let others die without the opportunity to return home and obtain redress. The United States should provide relief to the Chagossians in the form of resettlement to the outer Chagos islands, employment, and compensation.

You can read more about it at this Wikipedia link.

What can we do?

The Chagossians need 25,000 petitions to put forward their petition to force the US and Britain to leave their native islands and get back what was one rightfully theirs. They need more than 8000 petitions as of now. And time is running short - just a few days are left to sign this petition.

This petition is not about Mauritians pretending to be Americans.  History attests that the US administration has had an important role in preventing the Chagossians from returning to their homeland. This petition provides the people with an opportunity to extract an official response from the US administration about their stance on the Chagos case. Every single person can have his/her say on the US policy, irrespective of whether they are Americans or not, especially on issues of fundamental human rights and international law. These rights are universal and thus the US administration cannot eschew its international obligations. This petition has been launched in good faith and the Chagossians need your support

If you feel this cause is worth it, please do register yourselves at this link and sign the petition. The entire process takes just five minutes in total. May be we cannot stop Kony all by ourselves, but every single petition means a lot to the Chagossians. It's an urgent request from my side.

Regards

Varun Reddy.