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.

---

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

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

As British citizens, people of Chagossian descent are entitled to the same support as any other homeless person with a UK passport.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025

A UN panel has urged the UK to renegotiate a deal returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it "fails to guarantee" the rights of the Chagossian people.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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

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

The Chagossians have lived in limbo since being evicted from the Indian Ocean islands in the 1960s and 1970s to create a buffer around the secret U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

However, the deal has faced opposition domestically, as well as from Chagossians who were expelled in the 1960s to make way for the airbase.

From BBC ● Mar. 21, 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