Mauritians Implicated in the Traffic of British Passports

The Chagos Refugee Group (CRG) in Mauritius on Saturday said the British passport and immigration authorities have uncovered traffic of UK passports following the arrest on Wednesday in London of a Mauritian with a British passport which he claimed to have obtained through such means as he claims have originated from the Chagos archipelago.

Speaking during a press conference on Saturday at the offices of the CRG in Cassis in the outskirts of the Mauritian capital Port Louis, the president of the CRG, Olivier Bancoult explained that the passport officer at Heathrow airport in the British capital London became suspicious as that person looked like a Mauritian of Indian origin whereas all Chagossians have African traits. The person could also not explain where the CA was situated in the Indian Ocean.

Bancoult disclosed that the British High Commission in Port Louis has sought his help and that he will collaborate with them as he is acquainted with all the 1400 Chagossians living in Mauritius.

The president of the CRG pointed out that he will, next week, examine all the photos of persons who claim to be Chagossians and to whom the British High Commission has issued a passport in order to identify all genuine Chagossians and unmask the fake ones.

According to Bancoult, some corrupt officials at the Mauritius Civil Status Office (MCSO) could have sold copies of birth certificates of Chagossians to some people, following which these people may have obtained a national identity card at the local Social Security office and use such documents to apply for a British passport.

Meanwhile, the assistant British High Commissioner Ewin Ormiston said the High Commission has just recently started to fingerprint all persons who apply for a British visa or passport, but that it will be very difficult to arrest those who are already in Britain with such false documents.

However, the Mauritius authorities said giving the Chagossians a British passport was a ploy by the British government to prove that the Chagos Archipelago is British territory and that Mauritius has no right to lay claims on the islands.

The Chagossians were expelled to Mauritius from the Archipelago in 1965 when the British rented the islands to the American government which built a huge airforce base on the main island of Diego Garcia. Since then, a majority of the islanders have lived as refugees in Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Source African Press Agency

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