Chagossians on Chagos win their case!

Sensationally Misley Mandarin, British Chagossian campaigner and Interim First Minister of the Chagos Government, who is currently living on the Chagos Islands with his father Michel and two others, have won their case challenging the exclusion order from the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) authorities, the civil servants who run the islands for the British Government.

Supported by the GREAT British PAC and others, the case successfully challenged the use of Royal Prerogative powers which for over 20 years have kept all Chagossians from living on the islands.

The legal basis on which the current right to abode ban is based on was ruled to be unfounded. This is partly due to material changes such as the fact Chagossians are now living on the islands. And that the treaty signed by the British Government with Mauritius in May 2025 to handover sovereignty confirms money is now available for resettlement.

Crucially the ruling doesn’t give Chagossians a right to abode as a democratic right. The judge concluded, “Nothing in this decision creates a right for the Claimants to set up a permanent camp on the Ile du Coin without the necessary permits.”

However it does mean the Government will have to find other legal reasons instead of using executive power to stop Chagossians from resettling. They are appealing the decision.

This resettlement case is part of a broader campaign by various mainly British Chagossian groups, British patriot groups, the Conservatives and Reform UK to overturn the sovereignty treaty deal that the British government signed with Mauritius. The treaty currently provides no guarantee for the right of re-settlement and self-determination for Chagossian people many of whom who were born on the islands before being removed by force sixty years ago.

To read the Judge’s Conclusion in his ruling, click here.

Next steps for campaigners include:

[] making a legal case for resettlement and challenge to BIOT

[] continuing to campaign at the United Nations

[] challenging the treaty

note: the treaty is now signed by both Prime Ministers, supported formally in writing by the US government (alongside President Trump’s contradictory comments for and against it over the past year), voted for by the British House of Commons, and currently waiting to be debated in the House of Lords

THE CHAGOS FILES team/2 April 2026

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