The Myth of the Empty TerritoryThe Tragedy of the Chagos Islanders
- Esther Pujolràs-Noguer 1
- Felicity Hand 2
- 1 Universitat de Lleida (España)
- 2 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (España)
ISSN: 0211-5913
Ano de publicación: 2021
Título do exemplar: Indian Ocean Imaginaries / Imaginarios Indoceánicos
Número: 82
Páxinas: 155-172
Tipo: Artigo
Outras publicacións en: Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses
Resumo
In this article we outline the tragedy of the Chagos Islanders forcibly evicted from their homeland to make way for an American military base. A new colony was invented, the British Indian Ocean Territory, which would be declared a marine reserve in 2010. The British have refused to allow the Chagossians the right to return to their homelands not to protect the environment, but rather to safeguard the political agreement based on economic and military imperialism. Therefore this community has been condemned to historical erasure as their stories are imbricated in the official narration of an empty territory. To prevent the plight of the Chagossians from falling into oblivion, we organized a creative writing workshop with members of the community in order to grant visibility to the Chagossian fight for identity and recognition.