Chagossian

American  

[chah gohs-ee-uhn] / tʃɑ ˈgoʊs i ən /

noun

• Chagossians
  plural

1. an indigenous inhabitant of the Chagos Archipelago, whose population was deported from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s.

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adjective

1. relating to the indigenous inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, whose population was deported from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Chagossians
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Chagossian Chagossians

Mandarin, who calls himself the first minister of a Chagossian government-in-exile, said the islands "belong to us" and urged the UK to "let Chagossians come back to their homeland as British".

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

“Then there’s the small matter of the Chagossian people, who have never been consulted on any of this.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

It comes as a panel of experts urged the UK to renegotiate the Chagos deal as it "fails to guarantee" the rights of the Chagossian people.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025

"The agreement also lacks provisions to facilitate the Chagossian people's access to cultural sites on Diego Garcia and protect and conserve their unique cultural heritage," the panel added.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025

The deal includes a £40m trust fund to support Chagossians, a component that the UN panel also questioned would "comply with the right of the Chagossian people to effective remedy... and prompt reparation".

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025

In February, four Chagossians gave it a try, landing a rubber raft on tiny Île du Coin in an attempt to establish a de facto right of return, a gambit they called Operation Certain Death.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

Some Chagossians ended up in Seychelles, and a few dozen in the U.K. or Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

The following year, Britain and the U.S. agreed to build a military base on Diego Garcia, a slender, open-jawed island, and the two governments began plotting the expulsion of the Chagossians from the entire archipelago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

A judge has issued an order to temporarily block the deportation of four Chagossians who travelled to the Chagos Islands to protest against a deal to hand over the territory to Mauritius.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

Negotiations between 1971 and 1982 resulted in the   establishment of a trust fund by the British Government as   compensation for the displaced islanders, known as Chagossians.

From The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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