MORE than half a century after a former Labour Government began the forced displacement of the Chagossian people from their ancestral homeland, another Labour Government has today secured a court victory that leaves islanders who returned home facing renewed uncertainty over their future.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the territory’s Commissioner on Thursday, November 12, overturning an earlier judgment that had provided a significant legal victory for Chagossians seeking to remain on their islands.
The decision marks another chapter in one of the most troubling episodes in modern British colonial history, involving the removal of an entire island population to make way for a strategically important American military base.
The fight is not over. Not by a long shot
Claire Bullivant, Chief Executive, Great British PAC said:
“History will not look kindly upon this Labour Government. More than half a century after a Labour administration began the shameful expulsion of the Chagossian people from their ancestral homeland, another Labour Government is dragging their descendants through the courts for daring to return home.
“Let us be absolutely clear. A government cannot claim to champion human rights while fighting to deny people the right to live on the very land from which their families were forcibly removed. I believe this Labour Government risks being remembered alongside the colonial authorities responsible for that original injustice. They may have different faces and different excuses, but the suffering of the Chagossian people remains.
“This really is David versus Goliath. On one side stands the full might of Labour’s British state, with its lawyers, its resources and its seemingly endless determination to fight. On the other stands a handful of courageous islanders who simply want to live in the place they call home.
“But Labour would do well to remember how the story of David and Goliath ends. It wasn’t the giant who won.
“Great British PAC will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, and we will not abandon these extraordinary people. We have fought alongside them through the courts, we have helped sustain them on their islands, and we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them for as long as it takes.
“Governments come and go. History remembers what they did, not what they claimed to stand for. And when this chapter of British history is written, I want it to be remembered that there were people who refused to look away, refused to surrender, and refused to let this injustice go unchallenged.
“The fight is not over. Not by a long shot.”
At the centre of the latest dispute are Chagossians who returned to the Chagos Islands in February, determined to re-establish a presence on the islands from which their families were expelled.
Among the six Chagossians living there is Louis Michel Mandarin, born on the Chagos Archipelago in 1953 and the father of Chagossians First Minister and campaigner Louis Misley Mandarin.
For Louis Michel, the dispute is profoundly personal. His family belongs to a community whose history, homes and livelihoods were uprooted by decisions taken thousands of miles away in London.
Having returned to his birthplace more than five decades after the expulsions, he now faces renewed uncertainty over whether he will be permitted to remain.
The full implications of Thursday’s judgment, including the position of an injunction previously preventing removal, have yet to be established.
The history Britain cannot escape
The tragedy of the Chagossian people began under Harold Wilson’s Labour Government.
In November 1965, the Government detached the Chagos Archipelago and established the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The following year, Britain reached an agreement with the United States making the territory available for defence purposes.
The islands were not empty. They were home to an established community with generations of history, families, homes, schools, churches and livelihoods.
Nevertheless, British and American officials planned to clear the islands of their inhabitants.
Beginning in 1967, Chagossians who travelled away for medical treatment or holidays were prevented from returning. Families were separated, supplies were reduced and island life became increasingly difficult.
One of the most disturbing elements of this history was the deliberate killing of the islanders’ dogs.
Human Rights Watch has documented how the BIOT authorities ordered dogs on Diego Garcia to be destroyed.
More than 1,000 dogs, including beloved family pets, were eventually killed using exhaust fumes from American military vehicles.
The animals were gassed as islanders faced the destruction of their communities and the prospect of being forced into exile.
Witnesses have described the distress caused by the killings, which many Chagossians believed were intended to intimidate them into leaving.
The forced displacement left families scattered across Mauritius, the Seychelles and elsewhere, with many enduring poverty, separation and decades of unsuccessful attempts to secure their right to return.
It is against this history that Thursday’s judgment must be understood.
A new legal battle over an old injustice
The latest confrontation began on February 16, when four Chagossian claimants arrived on Île du Coin without immigration permits.
Two days later, the BIOT authorities issued removal notices.
The islanders challenged those notices, and on March 31 the BIOT Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in their favour.
Chief Justice James Lewis KC ruled that the constitutional provision denying any person a right of abode in the territory was unlawful and quashed the removal notices.
However, he also found that the claimants had entered without the required permits and were not automatically entitled to establish a permanent settlement.
The effect of the favourable rulings was suspended pending appeal, while interim protection against removal continued.
The BIOT Commissioner challenged the decision, leading to Thursday’s successful appeal.
For the Chagossians, the outcome is a serious setback. For the Labour Government, it raises questions about whether the legal powers used to regulate access to the islands should continue to prevent members of the displaced community from living there.
Britain has repeatedly acknowledged the historic wrongs inflicted on the Chagossian people.
Yet more than 50 years after those expulsions, the descendants of those removed are still fighting in court over their ability to live on the islands.
The Labour Government maintains that restrictions on access and residence are governed by the territory’s legal framework, while insisting its controversial agreement to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius will safeguard the strategically vital Diego Garcia military base and benefit the Chagossian people.
Campaigners have dismissed these assurances as “ridiculous”, warning that surrendering sovereignty over one of the West’s most important military assets to Mauritius, a country with close economic ties to China, raises serious national security concerns. They also question how the Government can claim to be acting in the interests of Chagossians while continuing to fight those seeking to live on their ancestral homeland.
For the Chagossians, the dispute is far from resolved. More than half a century after their families were forcibly displaced, they are still fighting through the courts for the right to remain on the islands.
Preparations are now under way for an application to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the final court of appeal for BIOT.
Great British PAC fighting on two legal fronts
Thursday’s decision does not end the legal challenges being supported by Great British PAC.
The organisation has been assisting Chagossian claimants in their efforts to secure legal recognition, meaningful consultation and the protection of their rights.
It has contributed considerable sums towards Chagos-related legal proceedings and has helped deliver essential supplies to islanders who returned to the archipelago.
Great British PAC is also supporting a separate legal challenge in the English courts concerning the Government’s proposed transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
On November 5, Chagossian claimants returned to the Royal Courts of Justice in London for a fresh hearing on whether their Judicial Review should be permitted to proceed.
That case concerns the Government’s handling of the sovereignty agreement, including allegations that Chagossians were not adequately consulted about decisions affecting their ancestral homeland.
Permission for a full Judicial Review was initially refused in March 2026. Following an appeal, a fresh hearing was ordered to reconsider that decision.
The outcome of the November 5 proceedings is awaited.
The two legal challenges are distinct.
The BIOT case concerns the islanders’ immigration status, removal notices and right of abode.
The English proceedings concern the legality of aspects of the Government’s decision-making over the proposed sovereignty agreement.
Both have implications for the future of Chagossians seeking recognition of their rights and a greater say over decisions affecting their homeland.
Great British PAC has committed further funding towards the English Judicial Review proceedings and has helped organise wider political and public support for the Chagossian cause.
Its work has included supporting parliamentary interventions, commissioning research and polling, assisting the establishment of the Chagossian Government in Exile and engaging with politicians across party lines.
The organisation argues that Chagossians must be meaningfully involved in determining the future of their homeland.
The question facing Britain
The proposed sovereignty agreement with Mauritius has divided Chagossian opinion.
Some see it as offering an opportunity for resettlement and the restoration of rights previously denied. Others, including campaigners supported by Great British PAC, oppose the transfer and wish to retain their British identity and sovereignty over the islands.
The disagreement makes consultation and the protection of individual rights particularly important.
Thursday’s judgment must also be considered alongside the fact that Britain’s original displacement programme was initiated under Labour and continued under the Conservatives.
Successive British Governments have faced criticism for failing to deliver a lasting settlement for the displaced community.
For Louis Michel Mandarin and the five other Chagossians understood to be on Île du Coin, however, the issue is much more immediate than diplomatic negotiations, military arrangements or constitutional law.
It concerns whether they can continue living on the islands to which their families belong.
Their predecessors were removed under a policy that successive generations of British politicians have since acknowledged caused profound injustice.
Today’s legal proceedings show that the consequences remain unresolved.
Great British PAC’s support for the Chagossians’ continuing court challenges means the dispute will remain under legal and political scrutiny.
Further details of Thursday’s judgment, its implications for the islanders and the next stages of both legal challenges will follow as they become available.
