Trump ‘could save Chagos Islands from Starmer’s sneaky deal’

Co-head of British Indian Ocean Territory Citizens platform urges incoming president to block plan to hand over islands to Mauritius

Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to give up the Chagos Islands is a “sneaky agreement” that Donald Trump must block, the leader of a Chagos citizens’ group has said.
Vanessa Calou, the co-head of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Citizens platform, has voiced the plea to the incoming US president in a piece to The Telegraph.
Hundreds of Chagossians are gathering in London on Tuesday evening to protest against the Prime Minister’s deal to hand the islands over to Mauritius, which was announced last month.
The Chagos Islands, which form part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, are in the Indian Ocean and have been the subject of a decades-long sovereignty dispute.
Joe Biden, the US president, backed the deal when it was announced by the UK. America’s stance is key because it has a military base on one of the islands.
But British critics of the agreement are hoping that Mr Trump, the president-elect who will take office on Jan 20, will intervene to try to block it.
Ms Calou writes: “The British Chagossians do not support the agreement on a treaty to surrender the British Indian Ocean Territory to the Mauritian government.
“There was no consultation by the current UK Government with the indigenous population to include our views in this agreement.
“With the great victory of Donald Trump in the US election, the United States president-elect is a beacon of hope for the Chagossians population hoping that Donald Trump will stop the treaty UK Mauritius on BIOT and grant the indigenous of the Chagos the right to self-determination.”
Ms Calou also references the American military base on Diego Garcia, one of the land masses that makes up the islands, in her article.
She writes: “As it is a United States military base, the president-elect … must have strong views over this sneaky agreement and therefore stop this treaty and assist the indigenous return under the British flag. We are proud to be British and wish to remain British.”
Ms Calou will be at a “call to action” rally to oppose Britain giving up the Chagos Islands held at the Round Chapel in Hackney, east London, on Tuesday evening from 6pm.
Representatives from three other Chagos Groups will be there: the Chagos Islanders Group, Chagos Islands Welfare Group and Chagos Voice. About 500 Chagossians are expected by organisers to be in attendance.
The event has been arranged by Friends of the British Overseas Territories. Other speakers down to attend include Wendy Morton, the Tory shadow foreign minister, and Zia Yusuf, the Reform Party chairman.
Foreign Office sources have defended the UK deal by arguing that Britain was on the wrong side of international law on the Chagos Islands and that giving the territory up was inevitable.
By Vanessa Calou
The British Chagossians do not support the agreement on a treaty to surrender the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to the Mauritian government. There was no consultation by the current UK Government with the indigenous population to include our views in this agreement.
With the great victory of Donald J Trump in the US election, the United States president-elect is a beacon of hope for the Chagossians population hoping that Donald Trump will stop the treaty UK Mauritius on BIOT and grant the indigenous of the Chagos the right to self-determination.
The British Indian Ocean Territories indigenous population were expelled from their homeland to Mauritius and Seychelles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and there were no plans to relocate the Chagossians providing a home where we can prosper.
 Instead, the population which includes mothers with infants, the elderly, and people with disabilities, were dumped and left stranded on the Wharf to fend for themselves with no help from any government.
In Mauritius, the Chagossians were oppressed, suppressed and treated as second or even third-class citizens in the host countries. We British Chagossians have suffered greatly from losing our right to speak with the Mauritian criminal code preventing anyone from being proud to be British by recognising the UK sovereignty over BIOT.
My father told me once that under the UK government before Mauritius questionably got its independence, the UK provided adult evening classes for all Chagossians to learn to read and write English. After independence was granted, the Mauritian government stopped all adult evening classes and started its suppression of British Chagossians. 
Compensations were paid to the Mauritian government to accommodate the Chagossians in the ‘70s and the ‘80s. The UK government memo from the National Archives T-442-53, published in 1981, shows evidence that the Mauritian Government pocketed most of the compensations which were planned for the British Chagossians better livelihood in Mauritius.
Also, concerns have been raised about Mauritius’ ties with China. China inked its first free trade deal with an African country, Mauritius, in 2019, and bilateral commerce has increased by 75 per cent since then. China has also made significant investments in Mauritius, For example, the Mauritius Safe City Project was funded by a $455 million loan from China’s Export-Import Bank, and Chinese businesses provide most of the monitoring equipment.
We’ve had enough and all the British Chagossians around the UK are gathering to rally on the 12th of November to show our disagreement with this UK government treaty with the Mauritian government. As it is a United States military base, the president-elect Mr Trump must have strong views over this sneaky agreement and therefore stop this treaty and assist the indigenous return under the British flag. We are proud to be British and wish to remain British.
Vanessa Calou is co-head of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Citizens platform