A delegation from the Chagos Refugees group, visiting the United Kingdom, has urged parliamentarians to finalize stalled legislation that would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The group claims the issue has been "hijacked within the halls" of UK politics.
Delegation Expresses Support for Agreement
The six-member contingent fully supports the UK concluding an agreement after the government was forced to shelve legislation when the United States withdrew its support. Delegation leader Louis Olivier Bancoult addressed a gathering of Chagossians in West Sussex on Friday, stating: "It is not a question of sovereignty for us; the most important is our rights."
Bancoult added: "There is not a real will for the British government to find a solution for our people. We need to find a way. We are still suffering, and our position is clear: we have the right to live in our birthplace."
Legal Battle and Resettlement Restrictions
Bancoult began a legal battle against the UK government in 1996 after his family was uprooted in 1965 and prevented from returning when they traveled to Mauritius for his sister's illness. The delegation highlighted that current legal restrictions under the British Indian Ocean Territory regime prohibit resettlement. They criticized far-right UK leaders and media for narratives claiming Chagossians 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," Bancoult said in a parliamentary briefing statement.
Personal Stories of Suffering
Delegation member Rosemonde Bertin, deported to Mauritius in 1972 and the last person to give birth on Chagos Island, recounted her experience. She visited Chagos Island with permission but regretted being unable to spend more than a day in her birthplace. "How can it be that I was born in Chagos, but I cannot go there without permission and other people, third and fourth generation, can go and stay there?" she asked in Creole.
Other individuals who left as children spoke of their desire to return to Chagos Island and their wish to die in their birthplaces. Liseby Elyse, forced to leave the island in 1973, suffered a pregnancy loss at four months. Joseph Bertrand, 71, who lives in the UK after being forcibly moved to Mauritius at age 12, said: "We expect nothing more than justice for the hardship we have suffered all these years. We don't want heritage visits. We want to go there, we want to live there."
Political Support and International Law
The delegation met with parliamentarians including Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Alton, chair of the joint committee on human rights. Lord Alton emphasized his "longstanding personal support for their right to return permanently to their homeland where they should be free to determine their own future."
Jeremy Corbyn noted that all aspects of international law, including an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, indicate the islands "must" be part of Mauritius. In 2019, an advisory opinion by the ICJ, endorsed by the UN General Assembly, found the UK in breach of international law by maintaining its claim to the archipelago. "This has been dragged through the courts for the past 30 years," Corbyn said. "It is time the Tory party and Reform stopped fiddling around with some colonial inheritance that simply does not exist."
