He was born in 1964 on the island of
Peros Banhos in the
Chagos Archipelago, from where he was
forcibly removed at the age of four and transported to
Mauritius. In response, his mother Rita Élysée Bancoult, together with activists
Charlesia Alexis and
Lisette Talate, founded the CRG Bancoult is an electrician and an advocate for the juridical right of the Chagossians to return from Mauritius to their original homeland. He has been involved in
several high profile legal actions concerning the exile of the Chagos Islanders. He was elected multiple times as president of the Chagossian Welfare Fund, responsible for distributing up to 7 million
rupees a year in aid from the Mauritian government. He was one of five islanders who, on 13 February 2022, stepped on to the beach of
Peros Banhos, one of the larger atolls making up the occupied Chagos Islands, due to
Mauritius securing legal victories with the
United Nations General Assembly and the
International Court of Justice. In 2023, he was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize, along with
Liseby Elysé, a Chagossian woman who testified on behalf of Mauritius before the International Court of Justice in the Chagos case against the United Kingdom. Following the October 2024 joint statement between Mauritius and the United Kingdom regarding Britain's cession of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, Bancoult met with Prime Minister
Pravind Jugnauth to discuss resettlement in the Chagos Islands. ==See also==