Pope Leo XIV has thrown his weight behind the UK-Mauritius Chagos deal, calling it “historic justice” for exiled families uprooted from their homeland decades ago.
Zig Diaries World News
Date: Sunday, 25 August 2025
Time: 12:40 WAT
Location: 📍 Rome, Italy
The Vatican leader’s remarks come just weeks after the UK agreed to cede
control of the islands, paving the way for thousands of Chagossians to return.
Pope Leo met refugees in Rome on Saturday,
congratulating them on the agreement, which restores sovereignty to Mauritius
and allows up to 10,000 exiles and their descendants to go home.
He said no people should ever be forced into exile,
stressing that even “the smallest and weakest” deserve their right to live on
ancestral lands.
Under the agreement, the UK will
retain a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia for the U.S. military base, paying
Mauritius £101 million annually.
Fact-Check & Background
The Chagossians were expelled between 1966 and 1973 when Britain leased Diego Garcia to the U.S. for a military base. Over 2,000 islanders were forcibly resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled Britain’s occupation unlawful, a view later reinforced by the UN General Assembly. Despite years of resistance, London agreed in October 2024 to hand the islands back, except Diego Garcia.
The Vatican has long supported the Chagossian cause. Pope Francis raised the
issue during his 2019 visit to Mauritius, and again in 2023 when he met
islanders at the Vatican.
🏷 Tag: Pope Leo XIV, Chagos Islands, Mauritius, United Kingdom, Diego Garcia, Chagossians, Diplomacy, Vatican, Colonialism, International Law
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