26/01/2026
The Chagos Islands continue to make headlines… Here is one reason why I agree with Keir Starmer to withdraw the Chagos Islands bill of today’s schedule at the House of Lords.
Like many I try to keep my private life; ‘private’. This however might help you understand the treatment of the Chagossians and why I support the movement for Chagossians to be consulted before any decisions taken by the British Government.
My grandmother was a beautiful Chagossian who was forcefully removed from her homeland. Her home was destroyed, pets killed... She came to Mauritius with her sisters and I grew up remembering my aunties protesting in front of the House of Parliament in Port Louis (Mauritius) where they were mistreated by the Mauritian police. History has a selective memory.
The discrimination against Chagossians is still present and many live in extreme poverty in Roches Bois, a suburb of the capital city near the Port in Mauritius, where they are conveniently forgotten. My grandmother was lucky to meet a wonderful man who was in the British Army and married him. Education was our only way out of this tragedy. So, I was lucky. I was privately educated, graduated from 2 law schools but the pain of the spoliation has forged me in many ways and still live in me. The identity battle is constant and that is probably why I practise Immigration Law.
The expulsion of the Chagossians was the first tragedy and the treatment of the Chagossians today continues that memory. In Roches Bois, many find solace in God and in music. A few years ago, I wrote an article in the Mauritian paper about this amazing music school called Mo’zar founded by my late friend Jose Therese. Jose’s students now include international touring artists, and I was happy to read that one made it to The Cirque du Soleil. And you would guess right that the school still carries that stigma of being from Roches Bois and is still forgotten by the Government despite putting the volume up. My article may have been viewed as a simple homage, but it was a reminder that men cannot fail humanity. Chagossians should be heard not only by God but also by the Government.
