Pope Leo XIV has praised the landmark agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius to return the Chagos Islands, calling it a long-overdue step toward justice for the thousands of Chagossians who were exiled from their homeland more than five decades ago.
Meeting with a delegation of Chagos refugees in Rome on Saturday, the Pope commended the £30 billion deal, which he said had “finally helped rectify this grave injustice.” He emphasized that forced displacement violates the dignity and rights of peoples, declaring, “All peoples, even the smallest and weakest, must be respected by the powerful in their identity and rights, particularly the right to live on their land; no one can be forced into exile.”
The Chagossians were expelled in the late 1960s and 1970s after Britain allowed the United States to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago. Around 2,000 people were uprooted and resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles, sparking decades of legal and diplomatic battles.
The October agreement marks a significant policy shift for the UK, which had long dismissed Mauritius’s territorial claims. Under the deal, Britain will formally hand sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, enabling up to 10,000 Chagossians and their descendants to return home. However, Diego Garcia will remain under lease to the United States for military use, with the UK paying Mauritius about £101 million annually for the next 99 years to retain the arrangement.
The settlement comes after years of international pressure. In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that the UK had unlawfully separated the islands from Mauritius at the end of colonial rule. The UN General Assembly followed by overwhelmingly calling for the UK’s withdrawal.
The Vatican has consistently supported the Chagossians’ cause. Pope Francis, during a 2019 visit to Mauritius, urged Britain to comply with the UN ruling, and in 2023 he met a group of Chagossian representatives at the Vatican. Pope Leo XIV’s latest remarks signal continued moral support from the Catholic Church for the restoration of the islanders’ rights.
For the Chagossians, many of whom have lived in exile for generations, the agreement represents both a symbolic victory and a chance for long-awaited return.