Lots of people could live on the Chagos Islands
NEWS
Although the Chagos Islands sovereignty treaty bill is in its final stages and almost ratified in the UK parliament, campaigners against the deal are “NOT GIVING UP.” They tell me, “WE WILL WIN!”
Not only is Misley Mandarin, elected First Minister of the Chagos Government by his BIOT Citizen group, his father and four other Chagossians living on the islands right now, Save Chagos campaigners are still lobbying President Trump to veto the British government deal to hand the islands to Mauritius. Meanwhile British lawyers are working hard to appeal any legal case defeats, determined to have courts find against the British government or the ruling authority on the islands, the British Indian Overseas Territory (BIOT) administration.
The latest campaign is the launch last night of the new report by Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT). It looks at the practical considerations to resettlement of the Chagossian people on the Chagos Islands - not just for the few on the islands right now who are currently living in tents but for everyone in the kind of accommodation that can withstand bad weather and protect everyone including children from the heat and mosquitos.
A New Beginning: resettling the British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Islands) aims to open the debate about resettling the Chagossian community. A previous Conservative government that had commissioned a resettlement report too had decided that it was not possible to resettle everyone due to the costs involved.
The FOTBOT report “aims to encourage a constructive and informed discussion about how resettlement could be delivered in a way that supports the Chagossian community while recognising the wider strategic and environmental context of the islands.”
Already the report has the support of some parliamentarians who will try and have the issues it raises debated.
Could it be presented in parliament as an add on to the treaty bill?
THE CHAGOS FILES TEAM/ 17 mar 2026 __________________________________________________
FOLLOW debates with
Tessa Clarke, Editor, THE CHAGOS FILES
on X at @tessaclarkelive
