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Exiled for 50 Years, British Chagossians Return in Defiant Mission to Reclaim Homeland
Four Chagossians have started a permanent settlement on Ile du Coin to oppose a UK plan transferring sovereignty to Mauritius, with 10 more arrivals expected next week.
- On Feb 18, British authorities issued removal orders after four Chagossians travelled to Île du Coin on Monday to establish a permanent settlement.
- Under a 2025 agreement, Britain transfers sovereignty to Mauritius while retaining control of the U.S.-UK military base on Diego Garcia, with up to 2,000 Chagossians forcibly removed in the 1960s–1970s.
- Mandarin said they were living in tents and expect 10 more arrivals next week plus many more in the coming year, with his father Michel Mandarin, 74, removed as a child, urging return for the 322 people born on Île du Coin.
- The British Foreign Office condemned the landing as an `illegal, unsafe stunt`, and Gavin Glover, Mauritius' attorney general, dismissed it as a `publicity stunt` aimed at creating conflict.
- Analysts note the dispute intersects decolonisation and defence issues, and observers say the landing highlights persistent concerns but is unlikely to change the transfer framework's immediate trajectory.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Britain issues removal orders to four who landed on Chagos atoll
British authorities on Wednesday issued removal orders against four Chagossians who landed this week on a remote atoll in the Chagos Archipelago in a move they hoped would complicate British plans to transfer the territory to Mauritius.
Chagossians Return to Chagos Islands, Challenging UK-Mauritius Sovereignty Deal
Four British Chagossians have travelled to the Chagos Archipelago in a move challenging the UK government's planned transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius, drawing renewed attention to the long-running dispute over displacement and the islanders' right of return. The group landed on Île du Coin, part of the remote Indian Ocean territory, describing the journey as an attempt to reassert claims to ancestral land. UK officials have characterised the …
Four islanders land on remote Chagos atoll, hope to block UK-Mauritius deal
Feb 17 - Four Chagos islanders have landed on one of the Indian Ocean archipelago's atolls to establish what they say will be a permanent settlement, a move they hope will complicate a British plan to transfer the territory to Mauritius. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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