It's heartbreaking, but not entirely true. The UK purchased the archipelago for $3M, a detail that was left out of the article.

Just because money was paid to someone doesn’t make it legitimate. Certainly, even if the purchase were legal, then that doesn’t also confer the right to ethnic cleansing, so it’s kind of a moot point. There was a UN resolution in 2019 that holds that the colonisation of the islands by the UK was illegal. https://press.un.org/en/2019/ga12146.doc.htm