Colonial Fraud
Colonial Scam and Appropriation
The Chagos Archipelago has never had an indigenous population, except for the Maldivians. Instead, colonial powers imported African and Indian labourers, who were not native to the region and settled them in the territory. This engineered population cannot be regarded as indigenous, as true indigeneity requires a pre-colonial and ancestral connection to the land.
Over the centuries, colonial powers have often manipulated demographic realities, installing settler populations and later using their presence to claim legitimacy. This is evident in the Chagos case, where:
- Self-determination claims by settler descendants risk overriding the rights of truly indigenous peoples.
- Labelling settlers as indigenous is a form of cultural appropriation that masks colonial crimes and erases the identity of pre-existing peoples.
Challenging the Rewriting of Indigeneity
Redefining ‘indigenous’ to include Chagossians — whose presence is the result of colonial population transfers – dangerously dilutes the term and legitimises historic wrongdoing:
- Dilution of indigeneity: Indigeneity must be based on an aboriginal, pre-colonial connection, not a colonial settlement.
- Creole culture ≠ Indigenous culture: A culture formed under colonial conditions does not equal ancestral rootedness.
- UNDRIP misapplied: Self-identification must be balanced by historical continuity with pre-colonial societies – a factor that the Chagossians lack in relation to the Chagos.
- Justice must confront colonial dispossession: Granting indigeneity to settler groups risks burying the core injustice – the theft of lands and erasure of true native identities.
A Maldivian Indigenous Reality
The Maldives is a pre-colonial state with documented indigenous heritage. The Giraavaru people, for instance, are among the earliest island communities, with ancestral links predating even Buddhism. Labelling transplanted labour groups as indigenous undermines this historical reality.
Global Parallels of Colonial Rebranding
Similar tactics have been used elsewhere:
- Americas: European settlers displaced indigenous nations and claimed legitimacy.
- South Africa: Settlers institutionalised racial supremacy over native peoples.
- Palestine: Colonisation and forced displacement were rebranded as national entitlement.
In all these cases, the voices and rights of the original inhabitants have been overshadowed by manufactured claims. The struggle to restore truth, justice, and sovereignty continues, including in the Indian Ocean.
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