They are words of encouragement and hope those that the Pope has addressed, in French, to the delegation of the Chagos Refugees Group received this morning, 23 August, in the Vatican. The Association has been engaged in the battle for the return of the Chagos Islands for years to the Republic of Mauritius, a story that found a conclusion last May with the signing of the Treaty between London and Port Louis.
The agreement, which provides for the return of the archipelago under Mauritian sovereignty and the maintenance of the US military base in Diego Garcia, represents for the pontiff “a encouraging sign” with “a symbolic force on the international scene”.
The Pope recalled the encouragement given already in 2023 to continue the negotiations, underlining today how the return is “a significant step towards your return home”. He then paid tribute to the determination of the Chagossian people, and in particular to that of women, in the peaceful claim of their rights “.
“These years of exile – he added – have made you know poverty, contempt and exclusion. May the Lord heal your wounds and grant you the grace of forgiveness towards those who have hurt you. I invite you to look resolutely to the future ».
A long and painful affair that of the Chagos islands: from forced detachment by the Mauritius in 1965, to the exile of two thousand inhabitants to allow the construction of the base of Diego Garcia, up to the rulings of the International Court of Justice and the UN, which since 2019 asked for the return. After decades of legal and diplomatic battles, the 2025 treaty marks the end of a serious historical injustice.
