Olivier Bancoult
Chagossian Activist and Chair of the Chagos Refugees Group · 1964
Who is Olivier Bancoult?
Louis Olivier Bancoult was born in 1964 on the island of Peros Banhos in the Chagos Archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. At the age of four he was forcibly removed along with his family and the rest of the Chagossian population, part of the wider expulsion carried out by the United Kingdom between 1968 and 1973 to clear the archipelago for a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. Resettled in poverty in Mauritius, he trained as an electrician and became the leading figure in the decades-long Chagossian campaign for the right of return. He has led the Chagos Refugees Group, founded by his mother Rita Elysée Bancoult together with fellow activists in 1982, and has been a named claimant or lead voice in numerous UK, European, and international legal actions over the islands, including proceedings before the International Court of Justice. He has also administered Mauritian government welfare funds supporting the exiled Chagossian community.
Sources: Louis Olivier Bancoult, Wikipedia (biographical summary) · Olivier Bancoult, "The US and UK stole the Chagos islands 50 years ago. We need them back," openDemocracy, 18 April 2023