“Some went to the Seychelles, some to Mauritius … close family, brothers, sister, mother, father, separated … and they never saw each other again.” Before Mauritian independence in 1968, the British government detached the Chagos Islands from the Mauritius administrative boundaries to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. “We were always identified as different,” Pompe said, about growing up in the Seychelles. Now based in London, she has become a prominent voice in the Chagossian fight for the right to return. She also opposes the 2025 agreement to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius and allow Britain to retain a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia for billions of dollars.