A treaty that would let Chagossians return to part of their Indian Ocean homeland for the first time in more than half a century has stalled, and the oldest of the islanders say they are running out of time to see it carried out.
The agreement, signed by Britain and Mauritius on May 22, 2025, gives Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago while Britain keeps rights over the joint U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia for an initial 99 years. It would allow Mauritius to resettle Chagossians on islands other than Diego Garcia. But it has not entered into force, amid opposition from President Trump, and Britain’s Parliament has so far failed to pass the legislation needed to carry it out.
In April, the British government told Parliament the bill could not complete its passage in the 2024-26 session, which ended on April 29 without further progress. Mr. Trump had called the deal an “act of great stupidity” in January and questioned whether it protected the base.
Since then the issue has moved back onto the diplomatic calendar. On Sept. 21, Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain said his government would work with Mauritius and the United States on a way forward that secures the Diego Garcia base and British national security. Five days later, Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius flew to London for talks with Jonathan Powell, the British national security adviser, and other officials. He is still in London, according to the Mauritian government, which said the discussions would cover recent developments concerning the archipelago.
Britain separated the Chagos islands from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritian independence, and between 1968 and 1973 removed an estimated 1,400 to 1,700 Chagossians. Most went to Mauritius and the Seychelles, some later to Britain. British law made it illegal to stay on or return to the islands without permission.
“Chagossians born on the archipelago are now aged between 58 and 100,” Olivier Bancoult of the Chagos Refugees Group told Al Jazeera in Pointe aux Sables, Mauritius. “We are growing old, and we have lost several Chagossian elders this year alone.” At one funeral, he said, mourners scattered sand from Chagos into an elder’s tomb to honor his unfulfilled wish to breathe his last in his homeland.
Mr. Bancoult said his group was “unshaken by Trump’s interference” and cited rulings in its favor: the International Court of Justice’s 2019 advisory opinion backing a return of the archipelago to Mauritius, and a 2021 judgment by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. “International law is squarely on our side,” he said.
The long dispute has also divided Chagossians. Mr. Bancoult’s group is at odds with Misley Mandarin, a second-generation Chagossian based in Britain who favors resettlement under British rather than Mauritian sovereignty and has backing from Reform UK. “The actions of both the British and Mauritian governments have resulted in very nuanced and differing political opinions among Chagossians across the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles,” Chrisyl Wong-Hang-Sun, a doctoral researcher in anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, told Al Jazeera. She said both governments needed to “find ways to prioritise and engage with the Chagossian diaspora as a whole.”
Younger Chagossians describe a quieter loss. “During my fieldwork, many diaspora members expressed concerns over cultural loss, such as words in Chagossian Creole and recipes that are difficult to recreate abroad,” Ms. Wong-Hang-Sun said. “Descendants of Chagossians, myself included, long to know the islands of their relatives and ancestors.”
Mauritius has said little publicly about the substance of the latest talks. At the U.N. General Assembly in September, Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful called Mauritian sovereignty over the archipelago “non-negotiable” and described the 2025 agreement as a vindication of international law. Bruno Donat, an international relations consultant formerly with the United Nations, said Mauritius should keep pressing partners including the African Union, small island states and the Commonwealth Secretariat rather than settle for “being in New York corridors for a photo.”
Diego Garcia remains the sharpest point of contention. Lalit, a Mauritian political organization that has campaigned for decades to close the base, says the treaty would have kept it open and drawn Mauritius closer to the American military. “In addition to the moral responsibility, we have the knowledge that we might become a target for self-defence if our land is used this way,” said Lindsey Collen of Lalit. Mr. Donat argued the treaty could instead give Mauritius a say over the base, noting that it had called strikes launched from Diego Garcia against Iran a breach of international law. “That is not the position of a government staying silent to protect a lease payment,” he said.
For Mr. Bancoult, the strategic questions come second to the calendar. “We are opposed to war, ethically, but we are also running out of time,” he said. His group hopes soon to celebrate the 101st birthday of one of its members. “God willing, he’ll stay with us for more years.”