Ethnic classification for the pre-1969 inhabitants of the Chagos Islands
Chagossians/Chagos Islanders
Îlois
Flag of the Chagossian people[1][2]
Chagossian man harvesting coconuts, photographed shortly before the first United States encampment, 1971.
Regions with significant populations
United Kingdom – 3,000
Mauritius
Seychelles
Smaller populations:
France
Switzerland
Languages
Chagossian Creole · Mauritian Creole · Seychellois Creole · English · French
Religion
Predominantly Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Mauritian Creoles, Malagasy, South Asians, Mozambicans, Austronesian peoples
The Chagossians (also Îlois[il.wa][3] or Chagos Islanders) are an Indo-African ethnic group originating from French slaves brought to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, in the late 18th century. Under international law, they are the indigenous people of the Chagos archipelago. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being forcibly removed by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians are allowed to live on the island of Diego Garcia or anywhere in the Chagos archipelago, despite many of the islands they used to inhabit being over 160 km away from Diego Garcia.
The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly African, particularly from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius. There is also a significant proportion of Indian and Malay ancestry.[4] The French brought some to the Chagos Islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century.
The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a French-based creole language whose vocabulary also incorporates words originating in various African and Asian languages and is part of the Bourbonnais Creole family. Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagossian people living in the UK speak English. Some settled in the town of Crawley in West Sussex, and the Chagossian community there numbered approximately 3,000 in 2016.[5] Manchester also has a Chagossian community, which has included artist Audrey Albert.[6]
In 2016, the British government rejected the right of the Chagossians to return to the islands after a 45-year legal dispute.[7][8] In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that the United Kingdom did not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and that the administration of the archipelago should be handed over "as rapidly as possible" to Mauritius.[9]
^"UK Supreme Court highlights right of Chagos refugees to return home". New Internationalist. 5 July 2016.
^"Chagos Islanders living in Sussex criticise "problematic" flag raising by Mauritius". ITV.com. 14 February 2022.
^Sand, Peter H. (10 July 2009). "United States and Britain in Diego Garcia". SpringerLink. doi:10.1057/9780230622968.
^"June 2012 update | The UK Chagos Support Association". Chagossupport.org.uk. 12 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
^"Chagos Islanders will not be allowed home, UK government says". BBC News. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
^House, Manchester International Festival Blackfriars. "MIF21 Creative Fellowships". Manchester International Festival. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference guardian20161116 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Bowcott, Owen (16 November 2016). "Chagos islanders cannot return home, UK Foreign Office confirms". The Guardian.
^"Latest developments | Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 | International Court of Justice". www.icj-cij.org. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians are allowed to live on...
remaining Chagossians on the Peros Banhos atoll. The inhabitants, known at the time as the Ilois, are today known as Chagos Islanders or Chagossians. Chagossians...
figures). The forced removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago occurred between 1968 and 1973. The Chagossians, then numbering about 2,000 people...
Chagossian creole (also créole îlois, kreol Ilwa, or just Ilwa) is a French-based creole that was still spoken in 1994 by the 1,800 or so Chagossians...
hundreds. The eventual number of Chagossians numbered around 1,000. Regardless of the size of the population, the Chagossians had to be removed from the island...
instances, set around lagoons. The Chagos Islands had been home to the Chagossians from the 1700s brought as workers by the French from Africa and India...
to the Expulsion of the Chagossians, there are no Chagossians living on the Chagos Archipelago. The majority of Chagossians now live in the United Kingdom...
archipelago. In 2016, the Chagossian population was estimated at 8,700 in Mauritius, including 483 natives; 350 Chagossians live in the Seychelles, including...
both on the western rim of the reef. There were smaller settlements of Chagossians in Fouquet (0.45 km2, 0.17 sq mi) and Takamaka (0.48 km2, 0.19 sq mi)...
play-off between the hosts and the Chagossians. However, just before the tie was due to take place, the Chagossians were forced to withdraw. This did not...
Works Department In 1971, the local population of Diego Garcia, the Chagossians, was forcibly expelled from the island to make way for the base. The...
Agaléans and Chagossians are usually incorporated within this ethnic group. Mauritian Creoles along with their Rodriguais, Agaléan and Chagossian counterparts...
the British government's expulsion of the Chagossians. The entire population of approximately 1,600 Chagossians were removed from 1967 to 27 April 1973...
a court ruling in the United Kingdom that held that the exile of the Chagossians from the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was unlawful. Initially...
airbase (see depopulation of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago). The film contains a series of interviews with Chagossians, who have been deprived of...
the government to allow Chagossian participation to the talks. Some Chagossians are advocating for a referendum of Chagossians to determine the future...
A Chagossian on Diego Garcia in 1971, before the British expelled the islanders. He spoke a French-based creole language and his ancestors were likely...
Archipelago from Mauritian territory and the forcible expulsion of the Chagossians from their lands to establish a military base on one of the island of...
from the rest of Mauritius in 1965, leading to the expulsion of the Chagossians when both were colonial territories, to be unlawful. Judge Donoghue dissented...
stations), the British Indian Ocean Territory (whose inhabitants, the Chagossians, were forcibly moved to Mauritius and the United Kingdom between 1968...
Retrieved 20 February 2021. Sands, Philippe (24 May 2019). "At last, the Chagossians have a real chance of going back home". The Guardian. Archived from the...
reporting to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Indigenous Chagossian population was removed between 1967 and 1973. Presently the territory...
people with any admixture of the island's other groups. Rodrigues and Chagossians are usually incorporated within the Creole ethnic group. Along with the...
Turkey should pay damages to her. In a similar case, petitioners for the Chagossians asked the ECHR in 2005 to rule about their removal from Diego Garcia...
The Americans informed the British that they wanted all of the native Chagossians expelled from the island, a request to which the British agreed. In January...
political crisis Alta controversy Chiapas conflict Expulsion of the Chagossians High Arctic relocation Human rights in Tibet Indian removal Little Danes...
Global Information
