Trump might step in: Chagos islanders fight against UK-Mauritius territory deal
A high-stakes dispute erupts as Chagos citizens oppose UKʼs plan to transfer their islands to Mauritius. Local leaders seek help from incoming US president while organizing mass-protest in London
The UK-Mauritius agreement about Chagos Islands faces strong push-back from its native people (who are gathering for a big protest in east-london today)
Vanessa Calou‚ who leads BIOT Citizens platform calls the recent deal a sneaky move and hopes that the next US president can stop it. Her group dont agree with the UK governments choice to give the territory to Mauritius: the deal that was made last month without talking to local people
We are proud to be British and wish to remain British
The story of these islands is complex — back in the 70s‚ many island-people were moved to Mauritius and Seychelles with no real plan for their well-being. The compensation money (which UK gave to help them) went mostly into Mauritian governments pockets‚ as shown in some old UK papers from 81
Some extra worry comes from Mauritius growing ties with China; since their trade-deal in 19 the exchange between countries went up by 75%. Chinese companies now run lots of monitoring stuff there‚ funded by a huge 455-million loan
The US has a key role here because of its military-base on Diego Garcia island. While current president Joe Biden backs the UK-Mauritius deal‚ Donald Trump (who takes office in Jan) might have different ideas. About 500 Chagossians plan to show up at the Round Chapel today: theyʼll meet with Wendy Morton and other political figures to speak against giving up their home-land
