Hello All

This is the first time I’ve used LightStalkers to post a message, but here it is.

A big campaign was launched on Tuesday, 8 April 2008 at the House of Lords in London, UK by the Chagossian people to highlight their fight for their right to return to their homeland in the Chagos Archipelago, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

Approximately 2,000 Chagossians were secretly forcibly removed from the islands of Peros Banhos, Salomon, and Diego Garcia, by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Diego Garcia, the largest of these islands, was leased out to the U.S. government to construct a massive strategic air and naval base facility. The base, of course, was the launch pad for U.S. bombers to attack Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ever since their removal the Chagossian people have been campaigning for social justice and their right to return to their homeland.

As a photographer I have been working on a long-term project taking portraits of the community and, hopefully, contribute to maintaining a historical document.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Chagossian history and campaign, please visit the Let Them Return campaign website at www.letthemreturn.com, and spread the word.

You can also visit the UK Chagos Support Association’s website at www.chagossupport.org.uk.

To see some pictures, please visit www.digitalrailroad.net/PhucQuach or www.phucquach.co.uk. The latter website is being maintained at the moment, so please keep checking.

Many thanks.

Phuc