More funds needed for London Chagos arrivals, says council

BBC News

09-07-2025

More money is needed to help cope with the number of Chagos Islanders moving to the UK, according to a London council.Hillingdon Council said it had seen more than 400 Chagossians - who have British citizenship - arrive via nearby Heathrow Airport in the past year, with the cost of supporting them totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds.In May 2025, the UK government signed a long-planned deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.The council wants the government to "do the right thing" and provide more funding to cover costs, including temporary accommodation. The government said it was providing funding where Chagossian arrivals were "creating immediate local pressures".
The residents of the Chagos Islands, a British overseas territory, were evicted between 1967 and 1973 to create a joint UK-US military base.The granddaughter of one of those residents was in tears as she thought about her homeland's history when she landed at Heathrow."My grandmother was a British Chagossian," said Rebecca Philippe. "Fifty years ago, she was uprooted from her island, and we have seen her suffering. "By seeing her suffering, we suffered too, with her. Unfortunately she is no longer with us. But we are here, not only for our rights but to honour her."Ms Philippe said she had to hide her British Chagossian identity when living in Mauritius because anyone who criticised Mauritian sovereignty risked a prison sentence."We have a penal code on our heads. We can't protest or do anything to fight for our rights, so we feel powerless there," she said. "Here I can tell people who I am, and there's no more fear inside me."A report by Human Rights Watch found that many Chagossians displaced to Mauritius continued to suffer poverty, stigma and discrimination.
More than 100 Chagossians arrived at Heathrow Airport in one week in May, the same month the UK government signed the deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Hillingdon Council said.Many arrivals did not have accommodation plans and needed housing support.As British passport holders, Chagossians are allowed to enter the UK but do not qualify for the support that refugees and asylum seekers receive.The council said it helped those who had arrived to open a UK bank account and apply for Universal Credit, and provided bedding and a prepaid card for essentials. It said Chagossians went through a similar process to anyone else in the borough when it came to housing support.
The council said the arrivals were placing an unsustainable demand on services, and cost more than £508,000 between July 2024 and March 2025.It has forecast an annual cost of £1.2m going forward, as more Chagos Islanders arrive.The global population of Chagossians is reported to be around 10,000, with many of them living in Mauritius, the Seychelles or the UK."It's the government's policy on the Chagos Islands which is creating this surge in people coming to Heathrow," said Steve Tuckwell, the council's cabinet member for planning, housing and growth. "Heathrow's in Hillingdon and that's where the burden sits. So the government needs to do their bit to make it fairer for Hillingdon taxpayers."Mr Tuckwell said many of the Chagossian arrivals have children, and the council had a legal responsibility to find temporary accommodation for families with dependants. The council added that the government would only cover the costs incurred for up to 10 days after arrival.A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We are giving Hillingdon Council funding to support Chagossian arrivals where arrival numbers are creating immediate local pressures."Government guidance is clear that people must make their own accommodation arrangements before they travel."