| Stealing a Nation | |
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| Directed by | John Pilger Christopher Martin Sean Crotty |
| Produced by | Christopher Martin Polly Bide |
| Written by | John Pilger |
| Starring | John Pilger James R. Schlesinger Cassam Uteem Bill Rammell Mark Curtis Louis Olivier Bancoult |
| Music by | Nicholas Russell-Pavier |
| Cinematography | Preston Clothier |
| Editing by | Joe Frost |
| Studio | Carlton Television |
| Running time | 56 min |
| Language | English |
Stealing a Nation is a 2004 Granada Television documentary written and directed by John Pilger, produced and directed by Christopher Martin and with reconstruction footage directed by Sean Crotty. The documentary is about the expulsion of Chagos Islanders, who were forcibly removed by the British government between 1967 and 1973 to Mauritius, 1,000 miles away, so that the island could be used as an American and British airbase.[1][2]
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In the 1960s and 70s, British governments, conspiring with American officials, tricked into leaving, then expelled the entire population of the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean. The aim was to give the principal island of this Crown Colony, Diego Garcia, to the Americans who wanted it as a major military base. Indeed, from Diego Garcia US planes have since bombed Afghanistan and Iraq. The story is told by islanders who were dumped in the slums of Mauritius and in the words of the British officials who left a 'paper trail' of what the International Criminal Court now describes as 'a crime against humanity'.
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