In Mauritius, the Chagossians were oppressed, repressed and treated as second or even third class citizens in the host countries. We British Chagossians have suffered greatly from the loss of our right to speak, with the Mauritian penal code preventing anyone from being proud to be British by recognizing British sovereignty over the BIOT.

My father once told me that under the British government, before Mauritius gained its independence, the United Kingdom offered adult evening classes to all Chagossians to learn to read and write English. After independence, the Mauritian government stopped all evening classes for adults and began to repress the British Chagossians.

Compensation was paid to the Mauritian government for housing the Chagossians in the 1970s and 1980s. National Archives British government note T-442-53, published in 1981, shows that the Mauritian government pocketed most of the compensation provided for improve the livelihoods of British Chagossians in Mauritius.

Concerns have also been expressed regarding Mauritius’ links with China. China signed its first free trade agreement with an African country, Mauritius, in 2019, and bilateral trade has increased by 75% since then. China has also made significant investments in Mauritius. For example, the Mauritius Safe City project was financed by a $455 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, and Chinese companies are providing most of the surveillance equipment.

We have had enough and all British Chagossians in the United Kingdom are coming together on November 12 to show their disagreement with this treaty of the British government with the Mauritian government. As this is an American military base, President-elect Mr. Trump must have strong views on this underhand deal and therefore end this treaty and help the natives return to the British flag. We are proud to be British and want to stay that way.

Vanessa Calou is co-leader of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) citizens’ platform