The government's mistreatment of Ascension Islanders

I read with interest your article (Report, December 7) on the plight of the Ilois people who were illegally deported from Diego Garcia to make way for an US military base. It seems our government still considers itself above the law as it is now threatening to deport people on the tiny overseas territory of Ascension Island in the south Atlantic ocean. Currently, all people on the island are deported if their contracts of employment are terminated. Some employers do not even offer housing, only barrack-type accommodation.

Most of the staff originate from the island of St Helena which has a very high rate of unemployment and for those who can find employment, very low rates of pay. To provide a better standard of living for their families they are forced to seek employment abroad on Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands, which entails leaving spouses and children behind. For the lucky few who do qualify for houses on Ascension, they now face having children who may be forced to move to another island/country where they know no one, simply because their parents' contracts are terminated or they reach adulthood and cannot find their own employment on Ascension.

On the back of Robin Cook's 1999 white paper, Partnership for Progress and Prosperity, previous administrators, governors, FCO officers and even ministers have actively pushed Ascension Island towards becoming a more settled population where the basic rights to own property and have a family life are offered. Indeed tens of thousands of pounds of UK tax money has been spent on consultants to assist the Island Council in drafting appropriate legislation.

As a result of the promises of the UK government, some members of the community have poured their life savings into starting small businesses only to find out that they now face losing everything and being deported. The recently elected council was very surprised to be told by the governor that despite previous reassurances from the UK government to the contrary, they had no real decision-making authority at all. It also came as a surprise to islanders to learn that when signing contracts of employment to work on the island, they did so "with their eyes open and voluntarily forfeited their human rights".

As the majority of the population are British and proud of it, it has come as a severe shock to learn that the British government has such little regard for people's rights. We now wonder how they can continue to stand on a world stage pontificating about other countries when they pick and choose which rights to grant their own citizens.

Thinly veiled references were made to Diego Garcia and the possibility of only the USAF base being left on Ascension Island. Although some families here can boast three generations still living on island and many children know no other home, the threat was quite clear: we did it to Diego Garcia and we can do it to you.
Cllr Caroline Yon
ESA Telemetry Tracking Station, Ascension Island

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