Allen Vincatassin

Allen Vincatassin is a Chagossian activist who is the first and current President of the Diego Garcia and Chagos Islands Council.

Vincatassin was one year old when he was evicted from the Chagos Islands. His parents were not married and so ended up on separate islands. Vincatassin went with his paternal grandparents to Mauritius where he was forced to live in poverty.

Vincatassin was elected as the President of the Diego Garcia and Chagos Islands Council in 2011.

Vincatassin is opposed to Olivier Bancoult's Chagos Refugee Group as "they want Mauritian sovereignty over the islands. That is something we cannot negotiate. We believe that the rights of our people come first, not the state of Mauritius. We are proud to be British citizens and we believe a true democratic future lies with the UK."

Vincatassin said that the government "should disclose how much money it has received" from the sale of .io domain names and asked the government to provide "assurances that it will be used for the islands, including the resettlement that so many Chagossians want to see happen."

In 2015, Vincatassin was interviewed by George Galloway on RT UK's Sputnik.

• The Flight to Freedom (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform: 2015), ISBN 1499224176