Brief Description: This event focuses on the recent book covering the life of Olivier Bancoult, one a a group of Chagossians evicted from the Chagos Islands in the late 1960s to create a UK-US naval base on Diego Garcia. Forcibly removed at age four, Olivier's life has been a struggle to be allowed to return to the island of his birth. This event weaves the story of Olivier Bancoult's life, with the events of gaining independence for the island nation of Mauritius, which Chagos as part of, and the fight to decolonize Britain's last colony in Africa. 

Biography: Born in 1964 on Peros Banos in the Chagos Archipelago, Olivier's forced exile from his island home propelled him into activism from a young age. He is the Leader of the Chagos Refugee Group, an advocate for the juridical right of the Chagossians to return from Mauritius to their original homeland, and in 2023 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.