Chagossians urge UK to complete islands’ handover to Mauritius

Delegation of Chagos refugees visiting Britain says issue has been ‘hijacked within the halls’ of politics

A Chagossian delegation visiting the UK has urged parliamentarians to complete stalled legislation to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which they say has been “hijacked within the halls” of UK politics.

The six-person contingent from the Chagos Refugees Group expressed their full support for the UK to conclude an agreement after the government was forced to shelve legislation when the US dropped support for the agreement.

“It’s not a question of sovereignty for us, the most important is our rights,” the delegation leader, Louis Olivier Bancoult, told a room full of Chagossians, some native-born, gathered in West Sussex on Friday.

“There is not a real will for the British government to find a solution for our people. We need to find a way,” he added. “We’re still suffering and our position is clear, we have the right to live in our birthplace.”

In 1996, Bancoult started a legal battle against the UK government and has continued to fight for their return after his family was uprooted in 1965 and unable to return after travelling to Mauritius for his sister’s illness.

The delegation has also said the current legal restrictions under the British Indian Ocean Territory regime prohibit resettlement, and criticised far-right UK leaders and press over narratives claiming they are a “pure, isolated race” with no ties to Mauritius, and that they oppose a negotiated settlement.

“We have watched with profound concern as the sacred issue of our human rights has been hijacked within the halls of UK politics,” said Bancoult in a parliamentary briefing statement.