Government of the Chagos Islands

Not to be confused with the Government of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the nationally and internationally recognised territorial government of the Chagos Archipelago.

Government of the Chagos Islands

Seal
Map of the British Indian Ocean Territory
Established	16 December 2025 (2025-12-16)
Founder	Misley Mandarin
Type	Unrecognised government
Headquarters	Île du Coin, Chagos Islands
Location	British Indian Ocean Territory
Coordinates	5°27′S 71°46′E
Official language	English Chagossian Creole
Website	biotchagos.com

The Government of the Chagos Islands is an organisation which claims to represent the Chagossian people as a self-governing British Overseas Territory. It is not recognised as a government by the United Kingdom, any other member state of the United Nations or by the Chagos Refugee Group which also claims to represent the Chagossian people.

The self-declared Government, led by Misley Mandarin, was established in December 2025, with the support of the Great British Political Action Committee, as opposition to the announcement of an agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius, which would see the territory officially transferred to Mauritius while the island of Diego Garcia would leased to the United Kingdom for continued operation of a joint UK-US military base. Mauritius will also allow settlement on the islands as per Article 6 of the Agreement.

In February 2026, after four people landed on Île du Coin, the Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory ordered that removal orders be quashed and that authorities re‑examine permit applications in accordance with fair procedure.

Names

After its formation in the United Kingdom, the group initially called itself "Chagossian Government in Exile". It removed the "in Exile" from its name after the group arrived on Île du Coin on 17 February 2026. The landing is considered illegal by the United Kingdom.

In April 2026, the group changed its name to "Chagossian Interim Government", while also continuing to use the name "Chagossian Government".

As of June 2026, it had switched to using "Government of the Chagos Islands".

Members

Misley Mandarin is the self-declared interim "First Minister", with other government roles listed as "To be announced".

Portfolio	Name	Term
Interim First Minister	Misley Mandarin	16 December 2025 –
Attorney General	TBA
Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration	TBA
Minister for Resettlement and Infrastructure	TBA
Minister for Finance and Administration	TBA
Minister for Health and Community Wellbeing	TBA
Minister for UK Relations	TBA
Minister for Culture, Heritage and Faith	TBA
Minister for Environment and Conservation	TBA
Minister for Fisheries and Economic Development	TBA

Background

See also: Chagossians and British Indian Ocean Territory

The Chagos Archipelago is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean comprising the seven atolls with over 1,000 individual islands, many very small, amounting to a total land area of 60 square kilometres (23 square miles). The islands were uninhabited until 1793, when the first successful colony was founded on Diego Garcia by France. Coconut plantations were established on many of the atolls and isolated islands of the archipelago. Initially the workers were enslaved Africans, but after 1840 they were freemen, many of whom were descended from those earlier enslaved. They formed a mixed culture called Ilois or Chagossians. Between 1810 and 1965, the islands were governed from the colony of British Mauritius.

In 1965, the British government separated the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius prior to Mauritius's independence, creating a new colony of the British Indian Ocean Territory, from which they expelled the entire Chagossian population, numbering about 2,000 people, to Mauritius and Seychelles, in order to build a Joint Military Facility of the United Kingdom and the United States on the largest island of the archipelago, Diego Garcia. The only inhabitants were British and United States military personnel, and associated contractors, who as of 2018 figures, collectively number around 3,000. The islands are off-limits to Chagossians, tourists, and the media.

In 2022, the British government launched a British citizenship route for Chagossians, following which many Chagossians moved from Mauritius to the UK, primarily settling in the town of Crawley.

Since the 1980s, the Government of Mauritius sought to gain control over the Chagos Archipelago. A February 2019 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice called for the islands to be given to Mauritius. Negotiations between the then Rishi Sunak-led Conservative UK government and Mauritius began in November 2022, and culminated in a treaty which was signed on 22 May 2025 under the Keir Starmer-led Labour government to formally transfer the sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius should it come into effect, while the Diego Garcia military base remains under British control during a 99-year lease. The UK government had expected the treaty to be ratified sometime in 2026.

In March 2026, Louis Olivier Bancoult, leader of the Mauritius-funded Chagos Refugee Group, stated his satisfaction with discussions with Mauritius's government regarding the UK-Mauritius treaty.

In March 2026, the President of Seychelles, Patrick Herminie visiting as chief guest for the celebrations of Mauritius' 58th Independence Day, reiterated his government's support for the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Islands. This recognition came a "fortnight after the Indian Ocean island nation suspended diplomatic ties with the Maldives following the Maldivian government’s non-recognition of Mauritian sovereignty over the islands."

Formation

In December 2025, the Great British Political Action Committee, a far-right political campaign group in the United Kingdom, organised an election to determine the formation of a government-in-exile, independently overseen by polling firm Whitestone Insight, stating that all Chagossians worldwide were eligible to participate.

As of 2025, an estimated 5,000 Chagossians lived in the United Kingdom, another 5,000 in Mauritius, and another 500 in the Seychelles. According to Friends of the British Overseas Territories, 1,341 people voted in the election. 1,233 respondents supported the formation of a government-in-exile with 108 opposed. 1,326 people voted for Misley Mandarin to serve as Interim First Minister for a period of a year, during which period a Charter would be drafted and formal elections prepared.

2026 resettlement plan

Main article: Resettlement of Île du Coin

Royal Marines Major Pete Goddard, as Acting Principal Immigration Officer of BIOT, ordered Mandarin's removal from the territory, on 18 February 2026.

Chief Justice of BIOT, James Lewis, granted the settlers a temporary injunction against the removal notices, on 19 February 2026.

A landing party of four British citizens defied a British government exclusion zone to set foot on Île du Coin, part of the coral atoll of Peros Banhos, on Monday 16 February 2026 at 08.52 local time (02.52 GMT) with the intention of staying to establish a permanent settlement. The group consisted of Misley Mandarin, his father Michel, Antoine LeMettre, and Guy Castel, assisted by former British MP Adam Holloway. Now aged 74, Michel was born on Chagos and was 14 at the time of the déraciné, or uprooting, put on to boats by the British colonial authorities. There are 322 people who were born on the island and still living that wish to return home before they die. In addition, there are descendants of the Chagossian people that consider the Chagos Islands their home and wish to be repatriated there while remaining under British rule.

Mandarin sought to reassure the United States that the settlement did not threaten the military base on Diego Garcia.

On 18 February 2026, they were served a removal order in the name of Royal Marines Major Pete Goddard, as Acting Principal Immigration Officer of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), stating that if they did not leave they could face imprisonment of three years or a fine of £3,000, or both. On the same day, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Starmer was "making a big mistake by entering a 100 Year Lease", that the "land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally" and "DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!".

On 19 February 2026, the Chagossians' lawyer, James Tumbridge, successfully applied for an injunction, which was granted by the Chief Justice of the British Indian Ocean Territory, James Lewis, who stated "there is no doubt the balance of convenience falls on the side of the claimants (the islanders). They are 120 miles from Diego Garcia and pose no threat to national security on the evidence before me".

In April 2026, Chief Justice Lewis said that key provisions of the territory's immigration regime were unlawful, and ordered the removal orders be quashed. The court however emphasised the claimants had entered without permits in violation of the Immigration Ordinance and it did not confer an automatic permanent right of residence. The islanders were represented by Philip Rule KC during their lawsuit to secure their right to live on the islands.

See also

• Government of the British Indian Ocean Territory

External links

• The group's website