NEWS ROUNDUP
Photo: Bertrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse, United Nations, Geneva 17 July 2025 /Association Chagossiens de France17 July: Chagossian campaigners petition the United Nations
Bernadette Dugasse, Bertrice Pompe, Jean Francois Nellan, and Pascalina Nellan travelled to the United Nations in Geneva last week urging support for their demand for resettlement rights as natives and descendants of natives of the Chagos Islands.
Mylene Augustin from Chagossian Voices also attended the UN session, the 3rd Meeting, 18th Session Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), as well as Cynthia Othello, Chair of the campaign organisation Association Chagossiens de France, and Avraham David, a Chagossian born on Diego Garcia forcibly evicted as a child.
Photo: Avraham David United Nations, Geneva 17 July 2025 /Association Chagossiens de France15 July: UK Government publishes updated citizenship guidance for Chagossians
The UK government has released an updated guidance on citizenship rights for Chagossians after the Chagos Islands sovereignty treaty with Mauritius is expected to come in to force.
The guidance confirms that current British citizenship and application routes remain unchanged. As the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) will no longer be British territory after the sovereignty treaty comes into force, Chagossians will no longer be eligible to apply for British Overseas Territories Citizenship (BOTC). However there will be no change to the application process nor the deadlines for British citizenship under The Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
19 July: Conservatives Demand Inquiry Over National Security Adviser’s Secret Talks
Jonathan Powell, the UK’s special envoy who has been leading Chagos sovereignty deal negotiations with Mauritius, is alleged to have held private discussions outside formal channels, raising questions about transparency and oversight within the national security apparatus, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Conservative MPs have called for a full parliamentary inquiry into Jonathan Powell’s activities over undisclosed, taxpayer-funded negotiations with so-called “rogue states.”
9 July: Hillingdon Council Ask Government for More Funds – Again
Hillingdon Council, home to hundreds of newly arrived Chagossians from Mauritius, has appealed to the UK government for additional funds to cope with even more arrivals this Summer.Council spokesmen say Hillingdon has seen more than 400 Chagossian arrivals at Heathrow in the past year. The council has spent nearly £18 million over five years with most (£16 million) spent on the welfare needs of asylum seekers. A further £508,000 was spent on Chagossians coming to the borough between July 2024 and March 2025, with another £1.2 million earmarked to help asylum seekers and Chagossians this year.
Conservative Council leader Ian Edwards argues that the costs are unsustainable for a single local authority and insists “£18 million is a lot of money and it's not right that the residents of Hillingdon are expected to pick up this tab,” he told the Daily Mail.
ALEXIA PSALTI/23 JULY