Great British PAC has committed £10,000 in emergency funding to Imperium Chambers to provide urgent legal assistance to Chagossian families after spouses encountered immigration difficulties on arrival in the United Kingdom.
The intervention came amid a dramatic series of events following the arrival of 31 Chagossian families from Mauritius at Manchester Airport on Tuesday, 22 September.
The families had travelled via Dubai to begin new lives in Britain, with Great British PAC having previously reported concerns from members of the community about their circumstances in Mauritius.
However, problems emerged at the border because some Chagossians held British passports while their spouses had different immigration or nationality statuses.
Great British PAC subsequently agreed to provide £10,000 to Imperium Chambers towards urgent legal work for affected Chagossian families.
Imperium Chambers specialises in immigration, public law and human rights cases and is already involved in Chagos-related litigation.
The issue reflects a longstanding problem affecting the community. Evidence previously submitted to Parliament described Chagossian families being divided because different members of the same family can have different immigration statuses, including spouses who do not automatically share their Chagossian partner's status.
The Government itself recognises a special route through which eligible direct descendants of people born in the British Indian Ocean Territory can obtain British citizenship.
Six children, an injured father and a family separated
Among the families caught up in the situation was a British Chagossian father, known as Harvey, who arrived with his six children.
Harvey and the children held British passports, but his wife encountered difficulties at the border because her documentation and status were different.
While lawyers worked on the family's situation, Harvey left the airport with the couple's six children.
A council worker subsequently helped the family obtain temporary hotel accommodation in Stockport.
But another, potentially much more serious problem was emerging.
Harvey had arrived in Britain suffering from an extensive open wound to his leg.
The injury had apparently been concealed during the family's journey and those helping the Chagossians were initially unaware of its severity.
When Great British PAC CEO Claire Bullivant was sent footage showing the injury later that day, she became concerned that Harvey required urgent medical attention.
After efforts were made to establish where Harvey and his children were staying, Ms Bullivant obtained a telephone number for him.
Harvey spoke little or no English, so Vanessa, the sister of Chagossian Government in Exile Interim First Minister Misley Mandarin, helped communicate with him.
It became clear that Harvey was in pain.
Ms Bullivant called an ambulance, which arrived at the hotel within minutes, and Harvey was taken to hospital for medical assessment and treatment.
Great British PAC is not disclosing detailed medical information and cannot independently diagnose the nature of his injury.
‘This is why we exist’
Claire Bullivant, CEO of Great British PAC, said the events demonstrated why supporting the Chagossian community could not stop at campaigning over treaties and sovereignty.
She said:
“There are moments when politics suddenly stops being abstract and becomes desperately, painfully human. This was one of them.
“We had a British Chagossian father in this country with six children, unable to speak English, separated from his wife and suffering from an absolutely horrific injury. Once we understood what was happening, there was no question of looking the other way.
“Great British PAC immediately committed £10,000 to Imperium Chambers so that lawyers could provide urgent legal assistance to the affected Chagossian families. These are not statistics or pieces on a political chessboard. They are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children whose lives have been turned upside down.
“And then there was Harvey. When I saw the footage of his leg, my heart sank. I knew we had to find him. We eventually discovered that a council worker had helped him and his six children into a hotel in Stockport. Vanessa helped us communicate with him, I called an ambulance, and within minutes help was there.
“That moment made me enormously proud of Britain. No grand speeches, no political arguments, just people acting because another human being needed help.
“A council worker found a roof for six children and their father. Chagossians helped us overcome the language barrier. Lawyers worked on the family's immigration situation. Paramedics came when they were needed. Doctors and nurses then took over.
“This is why Great British PAC has put its money where its mouth is. We can campaign in Parliament, fight through the courts and argue about the future of the Chagos Islands, but when Chagossian families actually need somebody standing beside them, we intend to be there.
“Britain bears an enormous historical responsibility towards the Chagossian people. We cannot change what was done to them generations ago, but we can decide how we treat them now.
“For us, standing with the Chagossians isn't a slogan. This week it meant £10,000 for urgent legal help. It meant finding an injured father in a Stockport hotel. It meant getting an ambulance to him. And it meant doing everything we could to help keep a family together.
“Whatever happens politically, I will never forget the humanity I witnessed that night. Sometimes patriotism is not a flag or a speech. Sometimes it is an ambulance arriving outside a Travelodge because a British citizen desperately needs help. That is the Britain I love.”
The £10,000 commitment forms part of Great British PAC's wider work with the Chagossian community, which has included supporting legal action and working with Chagossian representatives over the future of the islands.
The PAC has consistently argued that Chagossians themselves should have a meaningful voice over the future of their ancestral homeland.
The UK Government's guidance confirms that the historic removal of Chagossians from the islands prevented British nationality being passed down in the usual way to later generations born overseas, which ultimately led Parliament to establish a special citizenship route for direct descendants.
Government guidance also warns Chagossian British citizens moving to the UK that they may initially have limited access to some forms of support and are expected to make their own accommodation arrangements, with the guidance explicitly acknowledging the possibility of homelessness if they cannot do so.
Great British PAC will continue working with Chagossian representatives and lawyers as the families establish themselves in the United Kingdom.
The PAC's message is simple: the Chagossians will not be forgotten. They deserve self-determination. They want to return to their islands as British citizens. Our Government should not be handing over their homeland to Mauritius. Chagos must stay British and the Chagossians must be consulted.