Gang of four Chagossians sail to islands to try to reclaim their homeland before Labour surrenders the territory

A small group of Chagossians traveled to the islands by boat in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim their ancestral lands before the Labor Party officially handed the region over to Mauritius.

The four-man gang landed on Monday and issued an appeal to the 322 exiled Chagossians to join them in establishing a permanent settlement on the archipelago.

Misley Mandarin, first minister of the Chagos government in exile and leader of the returnee group, said ‘time is critical’ for her people evacuated from the British colony more than 50 years ago.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year transferred Britain’s sovereignty over the Chagos to China’s ally Mauritius; This was an event that critics described as a ‘betrayal’ to the British people.

Under the terms of the deal, Britain will pay billions of pounds to lease back the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said the Chagossians were now “taking matters into their own hands” because they “did not want to see the islands handed over to an ally of China”.

Nigel Farage yesterday said the journey was ‘truly remarkable’ and called on Labor to make its 15th U-turn by abandoning the Chagos deal altogether. He also praised former Tory MP Adam Holloway, who has since joined Reform UK, for accompanying the Chagossians on their journey.

Last month, President Donald Trump ripped up the agreement, warning it was ‘an act of gross stupidity’, ‘an act of utter weakness’ and claimed the area where the Diego Garcia base is located was given away ‘for no reason whatsoever’.

He later supported the deal, saying it was ‘for the best’. [Sir Keir Starmer] could’.

A group of Chagos islanders landed on the archipelago to establish a permanent settlement more than 50 years after the population was evacuated from the British colony.

Britain bought the Chagos Islands for £3 million in 1968, but Mauritius argued that it had to give these islands to gain independence from Britain.

A deal that could cost the taxpayer up to £30 billion was signed on May 22 last year despite a last-minute legal challenge from two Chagossians.

Mandarin grew up in Mauritius and left to join the British Army as a cook. He was elected First Minister in an independent poll among Chagossians in December.

It was revealed after a close friend of Sir Keir Starmer shared £8m for his work in negotiating the ‘surrender’ deal.

Speaking in Creole, Michel Mandarin told the Conservative Post: ‘We are British Chagossians. We are from this island. And we’re here to stay.

‘Mauritius was not easy. There were no jobs.

‘Since we didn’t have our own house, we had to sleep on our neighbor’s floor.

‘So I say to all Chagossians: Return to your homeland and live as you did before the exile, work together and create a better future.’

Philippe Sands KC, who describes himself as the ‘great friend’ of the Prime Minister, pocketed his share of this amount while serving as Mauritius’ general legal counsel between 2010 and 2024.

During this time he also secured the controversial agreement that would see Britain return sovereignty to the strategically important archipelago, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, and lease the Diego Garcia military base for 99 years at an average annual cost of £101 million.

Professor Sands, a leading international human rights lawyer who was also close to Attorney-General Lord Hermer, led a number of legal teams tasked almost exclusively with fighting for the island to be ceded to Mauritius.

According to official documents, they were allocated at least £8,300,000 from the Mauritius state budget.

While the exact figure Professor Sands takes home is unknown, his role as chief counsel will see him take the biggest cut, according to an international lawyer, who said a large bonus could also be paid upon completion of the deal.

Pressure has mounted on Sir Keir Starmer to abandon his ‘terrible’ plan to hand over the Chagos Islands, amid growing opposition from his own Labor MPs. Image: Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands

Members of the Chagossian community gather in Parliament Square in June 2025 to protest the UK’s transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius

Mr Mandarin said ‘time is critical’ for his people evacuated from British colony more than 50 years ago

Sir Keir Starmer last year transferred the UK’s sovereignty over the Chagos to China’s ally Mauritius; This was a situation that critics called a ‘betrayal’ of the British people.

When asked how much he was paid, Sands admitted to the House of Lords Committee that he ‘didn’t know’ but that he ‘was paid like me in almost all my cases’. It was not done for charity.

It has also been revealed that the Prime Minister is ‘shaking’ over the Chagos deal due to panic over the £35bn price tag and doubts about the legal situation.

Particular concerns were raised by Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to Washington who was forced to resign in September over his links to pedophilia financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In an interview with The Times, Lord Mandelson ‘recognised serious vacillation in London about the agreement and its salability to the British public’.

“This had to do with the price tag and whether we had the full legal obligation to enter into the deal and whether the original legal case brought in Whitehall for the deal was as watertight as claimed,” the expert said.

‘So on the one hand I faced a skeptical US administration, and on the other hand I faced a shaky government behind me.’