Leo XIV tells Chagos refugees that no one should be forced into exile
The pontiff met in the Vatican with former residents of Diego Garcia, the island in the Indian Ocean, who were removed in the 1970s to make way for a large UK-US military base. Last May, the UK signed an agreement transferring sovereignty to Mauritius, while maintaining a military presence. The pope expressed hope that local “authorities and the international community [will] allow their return, after 60 years, under the best possible conditions.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV met this morning in the Vatican with a delegation of the Chagos Refugees Group, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean that belongs to Mauritius.
“The prospect of your return to your native archipelago is an encouraging sign and has symbolic force on the international stage,” the pontiff said. “All peoples, even the smallest and weakest, must be respected by the powerful in their identity and rights, particularly the right to live in their own lands; no one can compel them into forced exile.”
These words are deeply significant in relation to the injustice suffered by the Chagos people, who lived on the eponymous islands, located approximately 1,600 kilometres south of the Indian coast and for decades a British overseas territory.
Since 1970, the island of Diego Garcia, the largest of the archipelago, has hosted a joint UK-US military base. To establish this base, the Chagossians – then numbering around a thousand – were forcibly expelled between 1968 and 1973 and relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles.
With an agreement signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 22 May, the UK agreed to return sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, while leasing Diego Garcia for 99 years, thus guaranteeing the permanence of the UK-US military base.
However, the question of the original inhabitants returning to the Chagos remains open, which the UK must settle with the government of Mauritius.
Pope Francis had also spoken out in favour of Chagossian rights in 2019, during his apostolic journey to the Mauritian capital of Port Louis.
Picking up the torch, Leo XIV said, "I am pleased that dialogue and respect for the decisions of international law have finally been able to remedy a grave injustice.”
What is more, “I pay tribute to the determination of the Chagos people, and especially that of the women, in peacefully asserting their rights. I now express the hope that Mauritian authorities and the international community will work to ensure that your return, after 60 years, takes place under the best possible conditions.
“The local Church,” he added, “will not fail to make its contribution, especially spiritual, as it has always done in times of trial. These years of exile have caused much suffering among you.
Lastly, “You have known poverty, contempt, and exclusion. May the Lord, with the prospect of a better future, heal your wounds and grant you the grace of forgiveness towards those who have harmed you. I invite you to look resolutely to the future.”
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09/09/2019 18:21
10/05/2021 18:13
