Four islanders land on remote Chagos atoll, hope to block UK-Mauritius deal

Feb 17 - Four Chagos islanders have landed on one of the Indian Ocean archipelago's atolls to establish what they say will be a permanent settlement, a move they hope will complicate a British plan to transfer the territory to Mauritius.

Mauritius' attorney general said the move was a publicity stunt designed to create conflict over a 2025 agreement with Britain on handing over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which is opposed by some Chagossians who accuse Mauritius of decades of neglect. Mauritius has denied the accusation.

Misley Mandarin, leader of the four people who landed on Monday on the remote Ile du Coin atoll, said they were living in tents and expect 10 more arrivals next week plus many more in the coming year, he said.

In a telephone call with Reuters on Tuesday, he said his father Michel Mandarin, 74, was with him and had been removed from the island when he was 14.

"I am not in exile anymore. This is my homeland," said Misley Mandarin, who was born in Mauritius.

Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s, and resettled mainly in Mauritius and Britain. Many want the right to return.

Last year's agreement allows Britain to retain control of the strategically important U.S.-UK air base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, under a 99-year lease.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged Britain and Mauritius not to ratify the agreement, saying it risks perpetuating historical rights violations.

Misley Mandarin said he wanted to make it possible for the 322 people who he said were born on Ile du Coin and are still alive "to come home before they die."

He sought to reassure the United States that the settlement did not threaten the military base on Diego Garcia.

Mauritius Attorney General Gavin Glover told private Radio Plus that the group had landed illegally and dismissed the move as a "publicity stunt organised to create a situation of conflict with the British government."

He said Mauritius would not exercise authority over the Chagos Archipelago islands until the treaty is ratified. REUTERS