Chagossians

The Chagossians, also known as Chagos Islanders and Îlois (French: [i.lwa]), are an Afro-Asian ethnic group originating from freed African slaves as well as people of Asian (South Asian and Malay) descent brought to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, in the late 18th century. The Chagossians are a mix of African, South Asian, and Malay descent. The French brought some to the Chagos Islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1776. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century. Under international law, they are the indigenous peoples of the Chagos archipelago, as they are descended from the earliest human settlers of the islands. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom after the forced removal 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 joint United Kingdom–United States military base. Since 1971, no Chagossians have been allowed to live on the island of Diego Garcia, nor anywhere in the Chagos Archipelago, despite many of the once-inhabited islands being over 160 kilometres (86 nmi; 99 mi) away from Diego Garcia. In 2026, four Chagossians linked to the self-declared Chagossian Government returned to Île du Coin to reestablish the settlement there, without seeking government permission. 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, which...