- The Observer
22 11.08.19 News
Chagos children
‘stuck for years in
unsafe lodgings’
these families in this appalling posi-
tion, and what steps are needed to
ensure it never happens again? ”
In 2002 native Chagossians and
their children were given the right to
British passports and since then more
than 3,000 have emigrated to the UK,
most of them settling in Crawley.
One of them, a mother, has begged
Crawley borough council to fi nd her
more suitable accommodation and
says that her family fi nds it diffi cult
to live in a single room.
“It’s not an easy life. Crawley coun-
cil say they can’t help me. Even when
I was pregnant, they didn’t want to
help,” she said.
Another British Chagossian and
former resident claimed the hotel,
which declined to comment, was “notRylance, Depp
and Pattinson
bring Coetzee tale
to the big screen
Film-makers struggled for 20 years
to get investors interested in a
fi lm adaptation of Waiting for the
Barbarians, JM Coetzee’s novel. His
complex tale of immigration and
integration was not the easiest sell.
But, in today’s unsettled world, the
story feels pertinent as never before.
Now the fi lm, starring Mark Rylance,
Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson ,
is receiving its world premiere at this
month’s Venice fi lm festival.
All the actors were motivated by
a desire to convey the “message”of the fi lm, as well as explore its
“artistic component,” said Andrea
Iervolino , one of the producers. “ We
loved [it] right away because this
movie, like the book, speaks
about integration and
immigration in a world of
division,” Iervolino told
the Observer.
“Now all governments try
to push away immigration, so
immigrants are not really
welcome. But this
movie will show howimportant and beautiful integration
and immigration can be ... We believe
that the message which this movie
gives is very important, more
important than 10 or 20 years ago.”
Th e fi lm is the fi rst English-
language movie for the fi lm’s
Colombian director, Ciro Guerra
and the screenplay is by Coetzee.
When his novel was published in
1980 , critics described it as a“masterwork”. In a story set in an
imaginary empire populated by
barbarian tribes, Rylance plays Th e
Magistrate, “a responsible offi cial”,
who begins to question imperialism.
Iervolino said the actor deserved an
Oscar for his performance.
“He plays someone who realises
that the government was trying
to scare the population by saying
that ‘the barbarians are coming, bad
people are coming, the invasion is
coming’. Actually, the government
was only instilling fear.”.Dalya Alberge Mark Rylance plays
The Magistrate.Katie McQue
& Mark Townsendsafe ... there are men living there with
drink and drug problems.”
Crawley borough council said:
“Unlike the housing act, which limits
family stays in hotel accommodation
to six weeks, there is no limit under
the children’s act. This may explain
why families have been there for an
extended period of time, and may
also explain why others are reported
to have moved on more quickly ...
“We are genuinely committed to
getting to the bottom of these alle-
gations and take appropriate steps if
found to be true.”
A West Sussex county council
spokesman said: “In some circum-
stances we support families with
children who have urgent housing
needs. When this happens we make
every effort to fi nd a suitable place-
ment. As temporary accommodation
is not best suited to meet longer term
needs, we work with a family to iden-
tify accommodation that meets the
children’s needs as soon as we can.”How the Observer reported the
islanders’ plight last month.Families descended from islanders
evicted from the Chagos Islands are
being housed in council-allocated
accommodation deemed by social
services to be inappropriate for young
children, the Observer has learned.
The latest revelations prompted
fresh calls for an independent inves-
tigation into the treatment of British
Chagossians, forcibly removed by the
UK in the 1960s and early 70s to allow
the US military to establish a base on
the largest island, Diego Garcia.
Last month the Observer revealed
British passport holders from the
Chagos Islands were being targeted by
council offi cials to get them removed
from the UK. Now it has emerged that
British Chagossians in Crawley, West
Sussex, are being accommodated in
lodgings about which social services
have serious concerns.
A West Sussex county council
social services document, seen by
the Observer, cites the case of a child
living in a Crawley hotel, location
of a sizable community of British
Chagossians. “I am worried there are
ongoing housing issues which impact
on [name] having a safe and appro-
priate space to grow and support his
development,” the document, written
by a social worker, states.
The child, who turns three next
month, has lived in the hotel all
his life despite the accommodation
being classed as temporary. Other
Chagossian families with young chil-
dren also claim they have been stuck
there for several years. They say white
British tenants are prioritised and
usually given social housing after a
few weeks or months.
Calls are mounting for an inquiry
into the attitude of UK authorities
towards the community with local
Tory MP, Henry Smith , writing to
Crawley borough council “express-
ing signifi cant concerns at disturb-
ing reports in the Observer”.
Chai Patel, legal policy director at
the Joint Council for the Welfare of
Immigrants said: “We need an inde-
pendent investigation into how the
government has been able to putПОДГОТОВИЛАГРУППА"What's News"
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