He Pope Leo XIV He has claimed this Sunday that all the peoples of the world, also the little or weak, They must be respected And they cannot be obliged to “forced exile”, upon receiving a group of refugees from the Chagos archipelago.
“All peoples, even the little ones and the weakest, must be respected by the powerful in their identity and their rights, in particular the right to live in their own lands; and no one can force them to a forced exile,” said the Pontiff.
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Leo XIV thus expressed he Chagos archipelagoof which they were expelled by the United Kingdom.
In May 2024, the British government signed a historical agreement that promised to return the Chagos archipelagoin the Indian Ocean, to his former mauricio.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated this treaty for the return of Chagos to the Insular Republic as “a significant step for the return home” of these refugees expelled in the last century of their islands.
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful when leaving after directing a Mass in the Tor Vergata neighborhood in Rome, as part of the Jubileo de la Juventud, on August 3, 2025. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte / AFP)
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“Rindo tribute to the determination of the Chagosian people, and in particular to that of women, in the peaceful claim of their rights. The renewed perspective of their return to their native archipelago is an encouraging signal and has a symbolic force in the international scene,” said the US pontiff.
Likewise, he thanked the parties involved and that “They have understood the suffering of their people and have reached this agreement”.
“I am glad that dialogue and respect for the decisions of international law, as my predecessor had wanted to return from the trip to Mauricio, have finally been able to remedy serious injustice,” he said, said, Remembering Francisco.
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Leo XIV He also urged the authorities of Mauricio and the entire international community to commit to the return of the inhabitants of Chagos sixty years later and that this return is carried out in the best possible conditions. ”
To do this, he promised the contribution of the local church.
“These years of exile have caused a lot of suffering among you. You have known poverty, contempt and exclusion. That the Lord, before the perspective of a better future, hesses their wounds and grant you the grace of forgiveness towards those who have hurt them. I invite you to look resolutely to the future,” the Pope urged.
