Bertrice Pompe, a British national born in the Chagos Islands, has expressed her fury at the UK Government's deal to transfer sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius, while vowing to continue fighting against the agreement.The deal, signed on Thursday after a judge overturned a last-minute injunction brought by Pompe herself, has sparked outrage among the Chagossian community who claim they were not consulted during negotiations.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
00:00to that 11th hour injunction, which very, very nearly precipitated a tremendous last minute victory.
00:07Beatrice, welcome to the show. Before we get into the particulars of your legal case,
00:14may I ask you for your reaction today, how you're feeling about the deal
00:18and how are the Chagotians are feeling about your country being given to Mauritius?
00:24Hi, good evening. A lot of Chagotians are furious, but I am hopeful.
00:34Today I'm getting, when I look at all the support we had yesterday from all the Chagotians
00:40from different countries, different parts of the UK, I am hopeful and we are going to fight this.
00:49We've got hope.
00:50And in terms of your case, just talk us through to GB News viewers about the specifics of your case
00:59because I believe that you read a story by GB News' Charlie Peters,
01:04which gave you the impetus, as it were, because of the deadline being brought forward.
01:10And so you decided to take action and you took action on behalf of yourself
01:14and your human rights and the human rights of other Chagotians.
01:19Talk us through the specific aspects of your claim against the British government.
01:23Yes, that's right.
01:28We've been, since 60 years ago, since we've been dumped to the Mauritius and the Seychelles
01:36and other parts of the countries who didn't want us in the first place,
01:40who were removed from our islands, the British government have been treating us as if we don't exist.
01:47The Mauritian government have been treating us as if we're not human beings as well.
01:53So why now they will take care of us because of this deal?
01:58So we're trying to get the, we've been trying all the 60 years to get the British government
02:02to realise that we are humans.
02:05We want our human rights.
02:07We want self-determination.
02:09We want to stand up for ourselves.
02:11Why are we not being looked at?
02:12And your case was 11th hour.
02:17There was an overnight hearing around about 2.30 in the morning.
02:21There was granted a temporary injunction.
02:23It wasn't to be.
02:24Later that morning, of course, the court found in favour of the government.
02:29And yet, Beatrice, you sound optimistic about the fight going on.
02:33How might that fight look like?
02:35What might happen next?
02:36Oh, next, we're still going to go back and tell them that they didn't consult us on this deal.
02:45We're still standing.
02:47We're stronger than before.
02:49We are more united now.
02:51Since yesterday, it has brought us together.
02:55And British people as well, who was born in this country, they should be concerned as well.
03:02So don't be shy.
03:04Let's join forces because it's going to come out of your pockets as well.
03:09And Beatrice, I also understand outside the court yesterday, there was a huge round of applause for Richard Tice,
03:17because Richard Tice tore up the contract, tore up the bill yesterday.
03:22And as I understand it, he stated that if reform were to form the next government, hey, that's a long way away.
03:29He said that the reform party would try and reverse this deal.
03:34So are you holding out perhaps that a change of government could be more in your favour?
03:42Well, we still have the MPs that's supposed to vote before this deal can go through.
03:49The signing of the papers is not the end of everything.
03:52So that gives us hope as well there.
03:57That's good.
03:57I'm joined by Catherine Forster in the studio.
04:00She was sat next to you, I believe, in court yesterday.
04:03So, Catherine, would you like to have a question with Beatrice?
04:07Yes, Beatrice.
04:08I was in the court yesterday and I was struck by the irony, really, that...
04:14Where is camera five?
04:16Oh, yeah, sorry.
04:17I was struck by the irony of the fact that, you know, you were saying that the government is breaching international law on human rights.
04:26And yet here we have a prime minister who was a former human rights lawyer.
04:32Are you surprised that with his background, the government have not given more consideration to the Chagotian people?
04:42And, you know, yet again, you seem to have been left out of the equation.
04:46Do you feel that he should be apologising, that he should be embarrassed?
04:50No, I'm not surprised because they have no shame.
04:55They've been trampling on us from day one and they blame it on their ancestors, but they take on the belt and carry it along and keep doing whatever their ancestors was doing.
05:08So they've got no shame.
05:09And Beatrice, just a final question to you.
05:15You've been through quite an emotional whirlwind.
05:19What a rollercoaster.
05:20You had the high of the potential victory, the temporary reprise, as it were, then the low of this going against you.
05:27But you seem remarkably stoic today.
05:30You seem upbeat almost about the future.
05:35Yeah.
05:36Yeah.
05:37I wasn't, yeah, I'm not going down, I'm going up.
05:43So, yes, I'm feeling hopeful.
05:46I've got supporters behind me.
05:49We're only going to get stronger.
05:52Yeah.
05:52Do you know what?
05:53I was joined yesterday in the studio by Misley Mandarin and Vanessa Callow.
05:57Of course, you know them.
05:58And they were absolutely the same.
05:59You know, if you could bottle the spirit of the Chagotians, I swear we could send something to the moon.
06:05It's been an incredible cycle.
06:07Thank you so much for joining us on the show today, Beatrice Pompey.
06:10A pleasure to have your company.
06:12And, you know, get some rest.
06:14This must be very, very exhausting for you.
06:15But thank you so much for joining us on GB News.
06:18And also thank you, of course, to Catherine Forza.
