British Indian Ocean Territory

Lord Luce Excerpts

Wednesday 27th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Luce (CB)]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, for introducing this debate, particularly at this time, in the light of the Government’s decision—a good decision—to have a wide-ranging feasibility study on the future of the Chagossians.

I think that it was in early 1982, when I was a Minister of State at the Foreign Office and had responsibilities for the African continent and the Indian Ocean, that I paid my first visit to Mauritius. When we landed, we were the only aeroplane at the airport. I came down the steps and the high commissioner whisked me away. At that point, I noticed that there were some 2,000 people at the airport. I expressed surprise that for one aeroplane there should be 2,000 people and I asked him why they were there. He said, “That’s a demonstration”. I said, “A demonstration against whom?” He said, “A demonstration against you”. So I said, “Look, if there’s a demonstration, the important thing is to meet the leaders. Please lay on the demonstration again and ask them to demonstrate again”.

They demonstrated the next day outside the high commission. I invited the five leaders, five marvellous Chagossian ladies, to come in and have tea. That was the first time that I realised that what we had done in the late 1960s and early 1970s by expelling 1,500 people, going back two, three and even four generations, was a really black mark for our country. It was serious abuse of human rights. I very much regret that, because I decided with the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, to resign very soon after that, I did not do more about the issue at that time.

I believe that the issue has undermined our voice in the case that we put for human rights all over the world. If we are going to argue for upholding the Commonwealth charter on core values, which we do, we have to be able to say that we are strong, in our own country and in our own foreign policy, on respecting human rights. Last week, on 21 November, we had a splendid debate, led by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, in which I could not take part, on human rights all round the world. When we do that, we need occasionally to pause to remember that we abuse human rights from time to time. In this case, we have, and we need to put it right.

I commend the Government for taking this action. I commend the Foreign Secretary and Mr Simmonds, the Minister, and the previous Minister for Africa and the Indian Ocean, Mr Bellingham, for the thought that they have given to this issue and for the way in which they are searching for a way forward. We should also remember the late Robin Cook, who, in 2000, restored the right of return, which was then abrogated in 2004. He should be remembered for that.

As the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, said, as the Government have now taken the lead on that issue, it is also essential that they should decide on the way forward before the 2015 election. As the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, said, the critical factor is that, under the 1966 exchange of letters between the United States and the United Kingdom on Diego Garcia and the British Indian Ocean Territory, the idea was that after the completion of 50 years, renewal for another 20 years from 2016 would be considered. This is the critical factor in why decisions need to be taken speedily. There would not be adequate time between the summer of 2015 and the renewal, if there is to be one, in Diego Garcia in 2016, for a new Government to give proper consideration to all those issues. The time span would be too short.

I should like to mention three aspects of this that are relevant to the timing. First, there is the feasibility study, which is admirably broad-ranging. It is imaginative and takes into account every facet of the issue, looking at all the options, costs, environmental issues, employment, political and economic issues, the fishing problem—which is very important to the Chagossians—ecotourism, and so on. Against that background, as the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, said, there is the study by the Foreign Office of the bigger issues to do with the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the future of the marine protection area, the sovereignty issues, resettlement of the Chagossians and relations with the United States and Mauritius.

I agree that it is very necessary that the feasibility study should be completed speedily, preferably by mid-2014, to give time for the Government to have discussions with the United States and Mauritius, after the completion of the study but before the election. That means speeding things up. That is why this debate is important.

The second issue is our relations with the United States and the need, in my view, for informal discussions, even at this stage, before the study is completed. Both the United Kingdom and the United States need to understand the mutual parameters on this issue that we have to live with. In the past two or three years, during my visits to Washington, I have called in on the State Department. On all occasions, I have asked where it stands on Diego Garcia and the British Indian Ocean Territory. One positive answer that I have always had is that the United States is prepared seriously to consider the employment of Chagossians in Diego Garcia itself, if that is what Chagossians want.

Where there may be a problem—this would be for discussion with the British Government—is over security issues, if there is any arrangement made by the British Government for the outer islands, 150 miles or so from Diego Garcia, to be settled. Even then, the State Department says, “If the British Government put a proposition to us, we would certainly be concerned about security but we would look at it seriously”. We need to facilitate things by having informal discussions with the United States now, rather than leaving it until later.

My last point is about Mauritius. I entirely agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, said. We need to engage; we need a diplomatic dialogue. After all, Mauritius is a strong partner of ours in the Commonwealth. It is a former colony. We therefore have very strong links. It is an old friend of ours, and we have a common interest in the issues that have recently been discussed at CHOGM in Sri Lanka about maintenance of human rights in Sri Lanka itself. That is an important factor. We have common ground on human rights issues. Relations between the British Government and Mauritius have soured over the past three or four years. That is a pity. It is largely due to the imposition of the marine protection area, just before the previous Government lost office, without any proper discussion with the Mauritian Government.

We need to restore good relations with Mauritius. We need to have a good dialogue. I hope that the Minister can say something about that. After all, when we eventually decide—as we will at some point—that sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory should be handed back to the Mauritians, it will be fundamental for them. It is essential that they are regarded as a vital player in any Chagossian solution. Many questions need to be covered, such as the future of the Chagossians, the possibility of co-management of the outer islands and sovereignty issues. We are all aware that there is a legal appeal at the moment against the marine protection area, but it would be much better if we could pursue a dialogue and get talking about how it may evolve in the longer term.

I congratulate the Government on what they have done. I hope that they will move forward urgently with things—particularly the feasibility study—and, at the end of the day, will get the credit for finding a solution before the next election.