WEST SUSSEX — A delegation from the Chagos Refugees Group visited the U.K. to advocate for legislation to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The U.K. government had previously halted such legislation after the U.S. withdrew support for the agreement.
The visiting Chagossian delegation is led by Louis Olivier Bancoult. In 1996, Bancoult initiated legal proceedings against the U.K. government concerning Chagossian resettlement. Legal restrictions under the British Indian Ocean Territory administration currently prevent permanent resettlement of the archipelago.
Delegation members met with parliamentarians Jeremy Corbyn and David Alton in West Sussex. Alton serves as chair of the joint committee on human rights. In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion, endorsed by the U.N. General Assembly, which determined that the U.K. was in breach of international law for maintaining sovereignty claims over the archipelago.
Bancoult said, "We have watched with profound concern as the sacred issue of our human rights has been hijacked within the halls of UK politics." He said, "We're still suffering and our position is clear, we have the right to live in our birthplace." He added, "There is not a real will for the British government to find a solution for our people. We need to find a way."
Alton said, "I emphasised my longstanding personal support for their right to return permanently to their homeland where they should be free to determine their own future." Corbyn said, "This has been dragged through the courts for the past 30 years. It's time the Tory party and Reform stopped fiddling around with some colonial inheritance, which simply doesn't exist."
Rosemonde Bertin was deported to Mauritius in 1972 and was the last recorded person to give birth on the Chagos Islands. Liseby Elysé was displaced from the Chagos Islands in 1973 and experienced a pregnancy loss during relocation. Joseph Bertrand resides in the U.K. after being forcibly relocated to Mauritius at age 12.