Chagossians living in the UK have accused Sir Keir Starmer of treating them like ‘second-class citizens’.
The minority ethnic group were expelled from their homeland in the 1960s when Britain paid £3million for the archipelago to form the British Indian Ocean Territory.
They were forced to live in Mauritius and the Seychelles before the UK extended British citizenship to Chagossians in 2002 – with around 5,000 moving to Crawley, Derby and Manchester.
Now they say they feel betrayed by Labour’s decision to hand over their homeland to Mauritius without consultation.
Frankie Bontemps, 55, said: ‘The Chagossians feel powerless, voiceless and like what happened to our mothers and fathers in 1965 has happened again today.
‘Our people were dumped in Mauritius where we are treated like second-class citizens.
‘If anyone from the Government consulted us, they would know we moved to the UK for a reason.’
The second-generation Chagossian, who lives in Crawley, West Sussex, added: ‘It feels like we are being treated differently because of the colour of our skin. This would never happen to people from the Falklands or Gibraltar.
‘We should have a say in our future, it’s our island and our homeland.’
Mr Bontemps said his mother died two weeks ago and her last wish was to go back to Diego Garcia, now a UK-US military base, where she was born.
‘If I had the opportunity to go back home and renounce my British citizenship, I’d do it in a second,’ he said.
Paul Poche, a native Chagossian who was expelled from the islands to Mauritius as a child, said: ‘We are being treated like animals just being passed off between owners.
‘Why have the Government decided to do this behind the backs of the Chagossian people?
‘It is because of the colour of our skin that we are being treated like this.
‘We escaped Mauritius with our families and now we’re being given right back to them. They had no plan for us then and they will have no plan for the Chagos Islands other than to make money.’
He added: ‘The Chagossians would prefer to be under British rule than back to that.’
Jemmy Simon, 36, who was born in Mauritius after her family were expelled from the Chagos Islands said: ‘It is disgusting behaviour from the British Government and the Mauritian government.
‘We are in complete and utter disbelief that after so many years, we are still not being heard.
‘Nobody asked us what we wanted, not one person. You get taken from the Chagos Islands and you get sent to Mauritius.
‘We are separated and we are segregated. My people, the Chagossian people are facing extinction and nobody cares.’
She added: ‘Do we have to get to a point where there is literally no Chagossians left? [Does] that part of British history, Mauritian history, [have to be] erased completely for us to be taken seriously?
‘Our suffering paved the way for Britain’s economy back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
‘My mother was born there. I grew up being told, “you are not Mauritian, you are Chagossian”. Now I don’t know what I am.’
Sir Keir and his Mauritian counterpart, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, claimed the treaty will ‘address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians.’
The agreement is still yet to be finalised, but both countries said they are committed to completing it as quickly as possible.
When did Britain take control of the Chagos Islands?
In the 1700s, a small number of French colonists settled on the uninhabited Chagos Islands and developed coconut plantations there.
They imported slaves from Africa to work on the plantations.
And when French administration was replaced by the British at the end of the Napoleonic wars in the 19th century, the former slaves took over the coconut oil business and developed their own economy.
As the years progressed, several generations of Chagos islanders developed a common language and culture.
For administrative purposes, Britain grouped the Chagos Archipelago and several other islands together with Mauritius.
When and why did Britain forcibly remove the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands?
In 1965, when Mauritius began negotiating its independence, Britain paid £3million to keep Chagos and a few other islands out of the settlement.
A year later, Britain signed Diego Garcia over to the United States on a 50-year lease, for use as a military base.
It was considered a useful strategic site during the Cold War, when the sea movements of the Soviet Union were of key interest.
However, the 1,000 Chagos Islanders were never informed of the changes.
They were also not aware that once a US military base was established, their presence would not be tolerated.
In 1973, the British Government cleared the Chagos Archipelago of its inhabitants to make way for both the US base and its own installation.
Dogs, including pets, were rounded up and killed.
Some islanders who were sent to Mauritius ended up unemployed and living in slums.
The UK did grant citizenship to some Chagossians in 2002, and many of them came to live in the UK.
The US’s 50-year lease was rolled over and is now set to expire in 2036.
Its base is strategically crucial as a staging post for ships and air power.
For how long has British sovereignty of the Chagos Islands been disputed?
Chagossians have fought for years to return to the land.
A handful of islanders repeatedly took the British government to court.
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that residents who were forcibly removed could not return.
Mauritius has long maintained that its islands are its own.
In 2021, United Nations’ highest court has ruled that the UK’s control of the territory is ‘unlawful’.
It said the Chagos Islands should be handed over to Mauritius.