Pretoria Declaration (October 2022)

The Pretoria Declaration is an important document in which Chagossians, supported by experts and academics assert their rights as an indigenous people and their right to self determination independent of any nation.

Participating Chagossian groups include Chagos Refugees Group (CRG), Chagossian Voices (CV) and Chagos Asylum People. The declaration contradicts some assumptions in the 2019 ICJ advisory opinion, in particular the idea that Chagossians are “Mauritians of Chagossian origin” and is a clear and recent declaration of indigenous status by Chagossians.

The declaration came at the end of a two day international conference on the “Status of the Chagos Islands” organised by the Instutitute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE PRETORIA DECLARATION