Pope Asked for Help by Chagossian Campaign Groups
Chagossian groups Indigenous Chagossian Voices, together with Chagos Asylum People and Chagossiens de France, met with the Catholic Church Holy See’s Permanent Mission in Geneva on 18 September 2025. The Chagossian group oppose the British government’s sovereignty deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
At the meeting the groups aimed to “clarify aspects of the UK–Mauritius agreement” over the Chagos Islands. In a Facebook statement Indigenous Chagossian Voices affirmed their commitment to continuing to “stand firm for the rights and dignity of the Chagossian people.”
The delegation met and thanked the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Holy See, Monsignor Riyyan Chaves Mendoza for his openness and for agreeing to transmit their concerns to Pope Leo XIV.
On 17 September 2025, Indigenous Chagossian Voices also participated in discussions with Docip (the Indigenous Peoples’ Centre for Documentation, Research and Information) at the UN. The delegation exchanged on challenges and priorities facing Chagossian and other Indigenous communities.
Following these engagements, on 19 September 2025, the Chagossian coalition, joined by Mauritian activist Dave Kissoondoyal, addressed the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its 78th session. The Chagossians highlighted ongoing discrimination, cultural erasure, and exclusion from decisions about their homeland in Mauritius, six decades after displacement.
The Catholic Church’s involvement on the issue
In 2019 Pope Francis had publicly supported Mauritius’ claim to the Chagos Islands. During a visit to Mauritius, he said that Britain should obey international institutions, including the UN and the International Court of Justice, in returning the islands to Mauritius.
In August 2025 Pope Leo XIV met with other Chagossians and reaffirmed the Church’s support for displaced peoples. He said he was “delighted” at the 22 May 2025 deal between the UK and Mauritius to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. He called it a “significant victory” in a long battle to “repair a grave injustice.”
With the discussions in Geneva and Rome this year highlighting differing approaches to achieving justice for Chagossians, the question of what justice means for Chagossians continues to offer different answers.
Alexia Psalti/5 October 2025