UK-Mauritius Chagos sovereignty deal stalls amid fears of further delays

Pointe aux Sables, Mauritius – “At one funeral, we scattered sand from Chagos into an elder’s tomb to honour his unfulfilled wish to breathe his last in his homeland,” says Olivier Bancoult of the Chagos Refugees Group.For elderly Chagossians displaced from their Indian Ocean homeland decades ago, delays to a treaty allowing their return are raising fears that they may never see the islands again.The agreement, signed by Britain and Mauritius in May 2025, would allow resettlement on islands other than Diego Garcia, which would remain a military base. But it has yet to enter into force amid opposition from US President Donald Trump.“We remain unshaken by Trump’s interference in the Chagos deal,” Bancoult says.“The 2019 ICJ advisory opinion in favour of the archipelago’s return to Mauritius has restored our dignity and faith in our rights as native Chagossians.”The Chagos archipelago, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, was separated from Mauritius by Britain in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence. Britain later established a military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the group.Between 1968 and 1973, Britain removed an estimated 1,400 to 1...