NAIROBI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - British authorities on Wednesday issued removal orders against four Chagossians who landed this week on a remote atoll in the Chagos Archipelago in a move they hoped would complicate British plans to transfer the territory to Mauritius.
The four landed on Monday on Ile du Coin, part of the Peros Banhos atoll, with more expected to join them in what would be a permanent settlement.
A spokesperson at the British Foreign Office called their arrival an "illegal, unsafe stunt" that would not help the UK government's joint work with Mauritius to resume a programme of heritage visits to the Chagos Archipelago.
Under a 2025 agreement, Britain will transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining control of the strategically important U.S.-UK air base on Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease.
British lawmaker and Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage said the four were British passport holders seeking to "reclaim their birthright" and said he was exploring legal avenues to support them.
"They were this morning served an eviction notice on behalf of the British government, and told that unless they comply, they could face up to three years in prison," he told a press conference in London.
The removal orders seen by Reuters, addressed to them individually, were issued by a British Indian Ocean Territory immigration official. It said that they are unlawfully present in the territory and will be removed.
It warned that breaching the order by returning would be a criminal offence punishable with up to three years' imprisonment, or a fine of 3,000 pounds sterling ($4,060), or both.
Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s and resettled mainly in Mauritius and Britain.
The deal has been criticised by some Chagossians who accuse Mauritius of decades of neglect, an allegation Mauritius denies.
(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani in Nairobi and Muvija M in London, editing by Andrei Khalip)
