Chagossian islanders who sailed to their ancestral homeland in the Chagos Archipelago are set to challenge British authorities in a rare sitting of the Supreme Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in London today (Friday).
The case, The King (on the application of Mandarin & Others) v Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory, will be heard at Field House tribunal centre before the territory’s Chief Justice, James Lewis KC.
It arises from the government’s attempt to remove the men after they landed on one of the remote islands earlier this year in a symbolic attempt to return home.
A Return to Ancestral Land
The claimants: Louis Misley Mandarin, Louis Michel Mandarin, Louis Antoine Lemettre and Guy Shane Adrien Castel, travelled to Île du Coin, part of the Peros Banhos atoll in the Chagos Archipelago, on 16 February. The group said they intended to begin re-establishing a settlement in a place where their families had lived for generations before being forced out more than half a century ago.
Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, Britain removed the entire Chagossian population from the archipelago to allow the construction of a joint UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia. Many displaced islanders were resettled in Mauritius, while others later moved to the United Kingdom.
For decades, Chagossians have campaigned for the right to return.
Misley Mandarin, one of the claimants, has described the journey as a peaceful attempt to reclaim a homeland that his community believes was unjustly taken from them.
The effort to organise a return and pursue legal action has also been supported by the Great British PAC, a political organisation that has worked with Chagossian activists in recent years. Supporters say the group helped facilitate the establishment of a Chagossian government-in-exile structure and provided financial backing for legal challenges aimed at securing the community’s right to return to the islands.
Campaigners involved in the case say that without outside organisational and financial support, it would have been extremely difficult for displaced islanders to mount complex litigation in British and BIOT courts.
Removal Orders Challenged
Within days of the group’s arrival, officials acting for the BIOT administration issued removal orders under the territory’s immigration laws, instructing the men to leave the islands and warning that they had no permission to remain.
The claimants responded by bringing an urgent legal challenge, arguing that the authorities acted unlawfully and failed to properly consider whether they could remain on the islands while their applications for permits were assessed.
On 19 February, Chief Justice Lewis granted an interim injunction preventing the government from enforcing the removal orders, allowing the claimants to remain in the archipelago while their case proceeds.
In granting the order, the court found there was a “serious issue to be tried” about the legality of the government’s actions. The judge also noted that the group was living far from the Diego Garcia base and that the authorities themselves had not suggested they posed a security threat.
A Rare BIOT Court Hearing
The substantive hearing is scheduled for Friday at Field House Tribunal Hearing Centre in central London, where BIOT courts often sit when dealing with cases involving UK-based lawyers and officials.
The hearing will take the form of a “rolled-up” judicial review, meaning the judge may decide both whether the claim should proceed and the merits of the case at the same time.
The claimants are expected to argue that the removal orders were issued unfairly and that the BIOT administration has failed to properly determine whether they should be granted permission to remain on the islands.
Wider Debate Over the Chagos Islands
The case unfolds against the backdrop of renewed debate about the future of the archipelago.
Britain has announced plans to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while then paying vast sums of British taxpayer money for the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia under a long-term lease. Chagossian groups have argued that any settlement should include their right to return.
For many campaigners, the legal challenge represents more than a dispute over immigration orders. It is the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle for recognition, justice and the ability to live again on islands from which their community was removed.
Supporters say the involvement of groups such as the Great British PAC has helped bring renewed attention and resources to the cause, enabling Chagossian activists to pursue legal avenues that were previously out of reach.
The court’s decision could determine not only whether the claimants are allowed to remain on the islands but may also influence the broader debate over whether Chagossians will one day be permitted to resettle their homeland.
