​Chagossian sends powerful message to 'anti-British' Keir Starmer on GB News: 'Illegal migrants are the real threat, not us!'

Chagossian First Minister Misley Mandarin and his group have been served removal papers by the British Border Patrol, but a judge has filed an injunction to temporarily prevent their removal.

Sharing her support for Mr Mandarin and the group on the island, Ms Emilien told GB News: "First of all, we say thank you to Misley and everyone who done this for our community, and we are here to support them.

"We want to let them know that they are not on their own. We've got lots of people, even from different communities, who are helping us and supporting them as well."

Asked by Martin what it would mean to her to return to her homeland, she admitted: "It's a big thing for me, and for my mum as well, who was born on that island.

"She's still here because of the condition of her health, but me, my family, my sister, we are ready to go to join them."

Hitting out at the Government for attempting to remove Mr Mandarin and his group from the island, Ms Emilien said: "The Government needs to do the right thing. The Government needs to know, Misley is a British citizen. Keir Starmer needs to support the British, not immigrants.

"It's not fair, he can't do that. He can't attack his own people. We've got immigrants who come here illegally, they are the real threat, not Misley, not the British Chagossians.

"We are not the threat here. We came here with peace, and he already knows who the real threat is, not the British Chagossians."

Asked what her message would be to the Prime Minister, Ms Emilien defiantly held up her British passport, declaring: "This is a British passport, my British passport. How could a migrant who crosses our Channel every day come here to the UK with no legal document, with no passport?

"How could they get support more than the British citizens? They've got houses, they've got free food, a bus ticket for the bus fare, they're using our NHS.

"They get everything for free, but what about us? We're the taxpayer here, not them. He needs to stand with us, not against us. That man is anti-British and he's a traitor. He betrayed us."

Also voicing her support for Mr Mandarin and his team on the island, Chagossian Cynthia Margolin said the British Government threatening him with removal is an "injustice".

She told GB News: "This is an injustice for him and for us also. Misley is on our island now, he is doing our work. He is doing his work and our work too, and he needs all the support.

"We have been facing so much on our side also, we have been having notices to go out of the house, this is a thing that we are facing, like British citizens are facing here in England. And Misley is doing this work for us also."

In a statement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is nonsense.

"We've always been clear that if a long term deal was not reached, there was a risk of further litigation being brought rapidly, which could have serious implications for base operations.

"Instead, the Government acted decisively to address threats to the base's operations, to protect national security threats and safeguard our shared defence capabilities.

"The agreement we reached will secure the future of the base, ensuring that it can continue to operate securely for generations to come."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter