JAKARTA - At least four residents of the Chagos Islands refused to leave the area in the Indian Ocean even though they had been expelled by a maritime patrol on Wednesday local time.
Britain has maintained control over the Chagos Islands since Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s. Britain expelled all residents of Chagos to make way for a US military base.
In May 2025, Britain agreed to return sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining a lease on the largest island there, Diego Garcia, which is used for a US military base. Efforts to return this colony are opposed by US President Donald Trump.
On Monday 16 February 2026, four members of the Chagos community, accompanied by former British Conservative MP Adam Holloway, landed on the remote Coin Island in the Peros Banhos atoll of the Chagos Archipelago.
One of the group told AFP by phone that they had come to the island as part of a protest against a British-Mauritian deal last year.
"Britain handed over my homeland to Mauritius. That's why we're here," said Misley Mandarin, who claims to be the "first minister" of the Chagossian Government in exile.
Mandarin wants the islands in the Chagos Archipelago to remain part of Britain and hopes that the original 322 residents can return to the area.
"We don't wait for any government to help us settle," Mandarin said.
"I challenge (British Prime Minister) Keir Starmer to expel me or the government of Mauritius to expel me," he continued.
Mandarin then said that a British maritime patrol tried to expel the group on Wednesday, February 18.
"They want to expel us from this island, but we will stay... And we have lawyers supporting us," he said.
According to a report by the Conservative Post, Mandarin and his father, Michel Mandarin, 72, were expelled from the archipelago when he was 14 years old.
Mauritius' Justice Minister Gavin Glover said this was "clearly a publicity stunt" ahead of a debate in the British parliament on the deal, which has been criticised by human rights groups and US President Donald Trump.
"All of this is sad, because the country of Mauritius has made a serious commitment to ensure that Chagossian citizens return to their homeland as soon as possible," Glover told reporters.
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