Four Chagossians return to islands in attempt to stop British transfer to Mauritius

Four Chagos Islanders have landed on one of the archipelago’s atolls to establish what they say will be a permanent settlement, in an attempt to complicate a British plan to transfer the territory to Mauritius.The Mauritius attorney general said the move was a publicity stunt designed to create conflict over a 2025 agreement with Britain on handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory, which is opposed by some Chagossians who accuse Mauritius of decades of neglect. Mauritius has denied the accusations.Under the deal, Britain would cede control over the islands to Mauritius but lease the largest, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.Misley Mandarin, leader of the four people who landed on Monday on the remote Île du Coin atoll, said they were living in tents. They expect 10 more arrivals next week and many more in the coming year, he said.Mandarin, who was born in Mauritius, told Reuters that his father, Michel Mandarin, 74, was with him and had been removed from the island aged 14.“I am not in exile any more. This is my homeland,” he said, adding that he wanted to make it possible for the 322 people who he said were born on Île du Coin and still alive “to come home before they die”.He sought to reassure the US that the settlement did not threaten the military base on Diego Garcia.Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s and resettled mainly in Mauritius and Britain, with many wanting the right to return to their homeland.The UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination has urged Britain and Mauritius not to ratify the 2025 agreement, saying it risks perpetuating historical rights violations.The Mauritius attorney general, Gavin Glover, told Radio Plus the group had landed illegally and dismissed the move as a “publicity stunt organised to create a situation of conflict with the British government”.He said Mauritius would not exercise authority over the Chagos Islands until the treaty was ratified.Earlier this month, Donald Trump watered down his criticism of the UK’s plan to hand the Chagos Islands back, saying the deal was the “best” Keir Starmer could make.The US president had described ceding sovereignty as an “act of great stupidity” only last month. He also claimed the deal was one of many “national security reasons” why the US should acquire Greenland.After a phone call with Starmer, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Diego Garcia was “strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States”.He said US military operations had succeeded over the past year “because of the strength of our war fighters, modern capability of our equipment and, very importantly, the strategic location of our Military Bases.“I understand that the deal prime minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make.”But Trump added: “If the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.“Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.”