AP PHOTOS: Displaced Chagos islanders fear they will never go home after a UK-Mauritius deal
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse looks at a Chagos Islands map during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
LONDON (AP) — Bernadette Dugasse was just a toddler when her family was forced to leave her birthplace, the Chagos Islands. She didn’t get a chance to return until she was a grandmother, and only for a visit.
Dugasse, 68, has spent most of her life in the Seychelles and the U.K. Like hundreds of others native to the Indian Ocean islands, Dugasse was kicked out of her homeland more than half a century ago when the British and U.S. governments decided to build an important military base there.
After years of fighting for the right to go home, Dugasse and other displaced islanders watched in despair Thursday as the U.K. government announced it was formally transferring the Chagos Islands’ sovereignty to Mauritius.
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse speaks, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse speaks, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows photos of a church in the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows photos of a church in the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
People demonstrate outside the Foreign Office in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the Foreign Office in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse pauses, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse pauses, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows sand and sea shells from the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows sand and sea shells from the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
People demonstrate outside the Foreign Office in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the Foreign Office in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows sea shells from the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse shows sea shells from the Chagos Islands during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse looks at a Chagos Islands map during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse looks at a Chagos Islands map during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
While political leaders spoke about international security and geopolitics, the deal meant only one thing for Chagossians: That the prospect of ever going back to live in their homeland now seems more out of reach than ever.
“We are the natives. We belong there,” said Dugasse, who has reluctantly settled in Crawley, a town south of London. “It made me feel enraged because I want to go home.”
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