Chagos Treaty Delay Fuels Fears Among Ageing Chagossians

Renewed discussions over the future of the Chagos archipelago have revived hopes that displaced Chagossians could eventually return, while delays to a treaty between Britain and Mauritius are deepening concerns among elderly members of the community.

The agreement, signed on May 22, 2025, provides for Mauritius to exercise sovereignty over the Indian Ocean archipelago. It would permit resettlement on islands other than Diego Garcia while preserving British rights over the military base there for an initial 99-year period.

The treaty has not entered into force. British implementing legislation did not complete its passage during the 2024-26 parliamentary session, which ended on April 29, and the bill made no further progress during that session.

Diplomatic discussions resume

Talks involving British, Mauritian and United States officials resumed in September. Andy Burnham said Britain would work with Mauritius and Washington on a way forward that would secure the operation of Diego Garcia and protect UK national security.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam travelled to the United Kingdom for discussions with Jonathan Powell and other officials on the Chagos issue. The Mauritian government said the meetings would address recent developments concerning the archipelago, but it has provided few public details about their substance.

At the United Nations General Assembly, Dhananjay Ramful reiterated that Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago was non-negotiable. The Mauritian government has also said it remains committed to diplomacy and dialogue.

US President Donald Trump has criticised the agreement, describing it as an “act of great stupidity” and questioning whether it adequately protects the Diego Garcia military base.

Urgency for an ageing community

For Chagossians who were removed from the islands decades ago, the delay has a personal cost. Britain separated the archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritian independence. Between 1968 and 1973, an estimated 1,400 to 1,700 Chagossians were removed from the islands.

Many were resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles, while others later moved to the United Kingdom. British authorities also made it illegal to remain on or return to the islands without permission.

Olivier Bancoult, a leading Chagossian representative, said people born on the archipelago are now between 58 and 100 years old. “We are growing old, and we have lost several Chagossian elders this year alone,” he said.

Bancoult said the community remained determined despite opposition to the agreement. “We remain unshaken by Trump’s interference in the Chagos deal,” he said, adding that the 2019 International Court of Justice advisory opinion, a 2021 judgment by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the 2025 treaty placed international law “squarely on our side.”

He also described the emotional burden of exile, recalling a funeral at which sand from Chagos was scattered into an elder’s tomb to honour a wish to die in his homeland.

Disagreement over sovereignty and Diego Garcia

Chagossian views on the treaty and the terms of any return are not uniform. The Chagos Refugees Group travelled to Britain in June to lobby representatives of political parties other than Reform UK. Meanwhile, Misley Mandarin and his supporters favour resettlement under British rather than Mauritian sovereignty.

Chrisyl Wong-Hang-Sun, whose work has examined the Chagossian diaspora, said political views differed among Chagossians in the United Kingdom, Mauritius and the Seychelles. She also pointed to cultural losses, including Chagossian Creole words and recipes that are difficult to recreate abroad.

“Descendants of Chagossians, myself included, long to know the islands of their relatives and ancestors,” she said, calling on the British and Mauritian governments to engage with the diaspora as a whole.

Diego Garcia remains another major point of dispute. Lalit, a Mauritian organisation, opposes the island’s continued military use and has campaigned for the closure of the base for decades. Lindsey Collen said the concern was both ethical and connected to the possibility that Mauritius could become a target if its territory were used for military operations.

Analyst Bruno Donat said Mauritius should maintain engagement with the African Union, small island states, the Commonwealth Secretariat and sympathetic members of the US Congress to build pressure on Washington. He argued that the treaty could give Mauritius greater leverage over how Diego Garcia is used.

For Bancoult, the need for progress remains urgent. “We are opposed to war, ethically, but we are also running out of time,” he said.