Chagos Appeal Court Reinstates Expulsion Orders Against Four Chagossians

The Appeal Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory has reinstated expulsion orders against four Chagossian men who arrived on the islands earlier this year without authorisation, delivering a significant legal setback to their campaign for the right to return.

The ruling, handed down on 12 November 2025, overturns a first-instance judgment from 31 March that had found the expulsion notices unlawful. The Appeal Court found that the Supreme Court of the BIOT had made several errors of law in reaching that earlier decision.

Central to the Appeal Court's reasoning is a 2004 constitutional provision that explicitly excludes any right of residence in the Chagos Archipelago. The lower court had declared this provision unlawful, but the Appeal Court disagreed, ruling that the provision stands and that authorities were fully entitled to issue removal notices against the four men.

The four men, Louis Misley Mandarin, his father Louis Michel Mandarin, Louis Antoine Lemettre and Guy Shane Adrien Castel, arrived on 16 February 2026 aboard a vessel called No Excuse. They landed on Ile du Coin in the Peros Banhos atoll without the required permits. Their stated aim was to challenge the restrictions that prevent Chagossians from returning to the archipelago, from which the entire population was forcibly removed by British authorities between 1968 and 1973 to make way for a United States military base on Diego Garcia.

The men also filed a counter-appeal arguing that the expulsion orders potentially violated international law. That counter-appeal was rejected in full.

In a video recorded on the island after the ruling, Misley Mandarin said he was disappointed but remained defiant. He stated that they would resist and would not leave, adding that he expected an intervention by authorities to physically remove them from the island.

The BIOT is a British Overseas Territory administered from London. It has no permanent civilian population today, and access to the islands is tightly controlled. The question of Chagossian resettlement has remained one of the most contested colonial-era disputes involving Mauritius, which claims sovereignty over the archipelago. A landmark agreement between the UK and Mauritius on the transfer of sovereignty was announced in 2024, though its full implementation remains subject to ongoing negotiations.

What this means: This ruling confirms that, under current BIOT law, Chagossians have no legal right of residence in the archipelago and can be expelled if they arrive without a permit. The four men remain on the island as of this report, apparently prepared to wait for a forced removal. Their case draws attention to the unresolved question of whether Chagossians will gain any right of return under any future sovereignty arrangement between Mauritius and the United Kingdom.

Source: ION News