From the archive, 15 September 1975: Indian Ocean island of Gan returned to Maldives

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/gan-maldives-diego-garcia-island-1975

The human problem of compensating local people for the arbitrary whims of imperialist policy is the same as in Diego Garcia

From the archive, 15 September 1975: Indian Ocean island of Gan returned to Maldives
David Fairhall
Tuesday 15 September 2015 00.30 EDT

With controversy still raging over Britain’s treatment of the islanders of Diego Garcia when the atoll was handed over to the United States Navy 10 years ago, Whitehall is negotiating compensation terms for another group of Indian Ocean islanders - the Maldivian and Pakistani inhabitants of Gan - which could prove just as politically explosive in another 10 years.

This time there is no question of evacuation, except by the RAF, which is scheduled to pull out on April 1 next year. And nobody else has been invited to move in. On the contrary, the strategic object of the negotiations is to make sure of keeping the Soviet Navy out of what could be an exact counterpart of the base facilities the US Navy wants to provide for itself in Diego Garcia.

But the human problem of compensating local people for the arbitrary whims of imperialist policy - albeit in Britain’s case a decidedly faded imperialism - is the same.

Gan is an airfield staging post on the military supply route linking the UK with Hong Kong. It also has a deep water lagoon, ideal for naval refuelling. About 900 Maldivians and 100 Pakistanis are employed there, but not housed, they come over each morning from neighbouring islands in support of RAF personnel. Military flights will continue to call there until the end of the year after which the base will be rapidly run down.