Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
A group of Chagossians has defied a removal order issued by UK authorities after arriving on the Chagos Islands to protest a planned transfer of control of the territory to Mauritius. The four men reached a remote part of the archipelago on Monday, sailing from Sri Lanka with the intention of establishing a permanent settlement on what they regard as their ancestral homeland.
Upon discovery by a British patrol vessel, the group was handed eviction notices warning that failure to comply could result in fines or imprisonment. The British Foreign Office described the voyage as an “illegal, unsafe stunt,” emphasizing that the group posed no security threat to the UK-US military installation on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain.
One of the protesters, Misley Mandarin, who identifies as the first minister of a Chagossian government-in-exile, expressed strong resistance to any attempts at removal. He told the BBC, “The British will have to drag me from my beach,” adding that they would have to “kill me” to force him off the islands. Mandarin insisted that the islands “belong to us” and called on the UK government to allow Chagossians to return as British citizens.
Legal advocates supporting the Chagossians are prepared to challenge the removal orders in court. The men currently receive support from a crew stationed approximately 200 yards offshore near Ile du Coin in the Peros Banhos atoll. They originally set sail from Galle Harbor on Sri Lanka’s south-west coast. Adam Holloway, a former Conservative MP and army officer now aligned with Reform UK, assisted the group’s return and remains on the island to aid in establishing the settlement. Holloway criticized the UK’s agreement to cede the islands to Mauritius, labeling it “completely crazy” and warning that the military base on Diego Garcia is “absolutely critical to the security of the West.”
The eviction notices were delivered by a British Indian Ocean Territory immigration official who arrived by a small inflatable boat. The BIOT patrol vessel reportedly faced difficulties getting ashore and had to borrow the Chagossian crew’s dinghy in order to serve the removal papers. Meanwhile, Holloway has not been formally served with eviction orders and is reportedly hiding out in the jungle.
The history of the Chagos Islands involves British control dating back to 1814 and the forcible eviction of the indigenous population in the 1960s to accommodate the establishment of a military base on Diego Garcia. The territory became a British overseas territory in 1965, following a £3 million grant paid to Mauritius to retain the archipelago. However, the UK government agreed last year to transfer control to Mauritius due to recent international court rulings seen as threatening the base’s future. Under the terms of the agreement, the UK will pay Mauritius £101 million annually for 99 years to maintain control over the UK-US military facility.
The deal has come under scrutiny and faces uncertainty, especially after former US President Donald Trump publicly urged the UK prime minister not to relinquish Diego Garcia. Many Chagossians, awarded the right to British citizenship in 2022, vehemently oppose the agreement, viewing it as a betrayal that hinders their hopes of returning to their homeland. Nonetheless, views among the Chagossian diaspora remain divided.
Mandarin criticized the forced removal of Chagossians as a “stain on British politics” but expressed hope that the UK’s prime minister could make a decisive, positive change. “Don’t ratify that deal, cancel that deal and let Chagossians come back to their homeland as British,” he declared. After landing, he issued a declaration asserting his “right of self-determination,” anticipating that more Chagossians would attempt to return.
The Foreign Office reiterated that entry into the territory without a valid permit is illegal, and those who do so will be issued removal orders. A spokesperson said, “The UK government recognises the importance of the islands to the Chagossian community and is working with Mauritius to resume a programme of heritage visits to the Chagos Archipelago. This kind of illegal, unsafe stunt is not the way to achieve that.” They also emphasized that the vessel involved poses no security risk to Diego Garcia
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.