The captain sounded the ship’s horn as the vessel crossed into waters that the UK claims as British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), despite the United Nations having confirmed three years ago that the area legally belongs to Mauritius.
During the first three days of the voyage from Seychelles there had been remarkably few seabirds, until the Mauritian-chartered Bleu De Nîmes, a cruise ship converted from its former use as a British minesweeper, neared the Chagos Islands.
Excitement began to build among the exiled Chagossians returning to their homeland. They played music on the quarterdeck. “I will be free,” said Rosemonde Bertin, throwing up her arms in anticipation of stepping ashore on Salomon Island, where she was born 67 years ago.
The captain sounded the ship’s horn as the vessel crossed into waters that the UK claims as British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), despite the United Nations having confirmed three years ago that the area legally belongs to Mauritius.
On the top deck, the Chagossians danced and sang in gentle, warm rain, raising glasses of champagne beside two open-air hot tubs.
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