Louis Olivier Bancoult
Born15 February 1964
Peros Banhos, Chagos Archipelago, Mauritius

Louis Olivier Bancoult (born 1964) is a Chagossian activist for the right of return and the leader of the Chagos Refugee Group (CRG).[1][2]

Biography

He was born in 1964 on the island of Peros Banhos in the Chagos Archipelago, from where he was forcibly removed at the age of four and transported to Mauritius.[3] In response, his mother Rita Élysée Bancoult, together with activists Charlesia Alexis and Lisette Talate, founded the CRG[2] in 1982.[4]

Bancoult is an electrician and an advocate for the juridical right of the Chagossians to return from Mauritius to their original homeland.[5] He has been involved in several high profile legal actions concerning the exile of the Chagos Islanders.

He was one of five islanders who, on 13 February 2022, stepped on to the beach of Peros Banhos, one of the larger atolls making up the occupied Chagos Islands, due to Mauritius legal victories "first at the UN General Assembly, then at the UN's International Court of Justice, and finally at the UN's tribunal for settling maritime disputes".[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Court victory for Chagos families". BBC News.
  2. 1 2 "Home CRG – Chagos Refugees Group". Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  3. ↑ Mann, Natasha (2000-07-13). "Island strife". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
  4. ↑ Sandra Evers et Marry Kooy, Eviction from the Chagos Islands: Displacement and Struggle for Identity Against Two World Powers, vol. Volume 1 : African History, Brill, 2011, 293 p. (ISBN 9004202609), p.153
  5. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger: Zurück ins Paradies, Christian Schmidt, 23 January 2015, page 8
  6. ↑ "Chagos islanders in emotional, historic trip home". BBC News. 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
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