AVAAZ.org is calling on us to support the British government effort to end commercial fishing in the Chagos archipelago.

I had never heard of the Chagos Islands, so I went to check Wikipedia to learn something about these islands. And here is what I found.

The Chagos Archipelago is basically a US military base after the British government decided to deport (forcibly removed) its legitimate inhabitants around 1970 to Mauritius:

From Wikipedia:
"Suddenly, between 1967 and 1971, the entire population was forcibly removed from the islands and relocated to Mauritius to make way for a joint United States-United Kingdom military base on Diego Garcia.

[...] It later became clear that the Chagossians had been fraudulently reclassified as 'migrant workers' in order to facilitate the American military occupation of their home. The High Court had repeatedly found in favour of the Chagosians and it was only by means of a Royal Decree that the UK government was able to overturn the decision.

[...] The British government went so far as to commission a (widely discredited) report in which it suggested that the islands were uninhabitable despite currently being home to hundreds of American military personnel."

So we need to at least question the motive here. Does the British government really want to save the oceans, or do they want to make the entire area around these islands an exclusive military zone?

I wonder if AVAAZ would like the idea of supporting the extension of military zone which is responsible for the deportation of thousands of legitimate inhabitants.

I have decided not to sign this petition as it is because I don't really like swimming in murky waters. I would love to sign the petition if it also called for the end of the military base to really protect the zone from all pollutions.

The question of its original inhabitants must also be addressed, they want to return and self determination - they do not want to be ruled by Mauritius, which the current plan after the end of the military occupation.

Update: I just signed the petition for a solution to protect the Chagos and the allow the return of Chagossians to their homeland.

Update: The lie has now been exposed thanks to Wikileaks: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/207149.