Declassified UK has uncovered significant developments surrounding Britain’s contentious deal with Mauritius regarding the Chagos Islands, igniting a political firestorm across the UK. Prominent figures such as Nigel Farage and several Conservative MPs have strongly criticized the move, claiming it amounts to an unacceptable surrender of British sovereignty. As the Foreign Secretary David Lammy prepares to meet U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio to discuss the UK-US military base on the Chagos Islands, the agreement allows Mauritius to take sovereignty, while Britain continues operating the military base on Diego Garcia.
In October, the government led by Keir Starmer reached a deal with Mauritius, allowing the UK to maintain control of the Diego Garcia military base while granting sovereignty over the entire Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. However, this agreement has sparked outrage among members of the Conservative Party, with Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel condemning the move as the end of more than 200 years of British sovereignty in the region.
A key aspect of the controversy is the exclusion of the Chagossians—the native people forcibly removed from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the U.S. military base. While the UK-US military presence will continue, the Chagossians will only be allowed to return to the smaller, outlying islands, while access to Diego Garcia remains tightly controlled. This has fueled outrage, as many believe the deal continues to disregard the rights of the Chagossian people.
The UK has secured a 99-year lease for the military base, with the possibility of extending it thereafter. However, some British officials, including former Foreign Minister Lord Bellingham, have argued that this lease is insufficient for national security and suggest maintaining control of the base “in perpetuity.”
Legally, the UK’s claim to the islands is contentious. As Declassified UK reports, in 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Britain had violated international law in its creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in 1965. The ICJ found that the detachment of the Chagos Islands from Mauritius was unlawful, calling for the UK to end its control of the territory as soon as possible. In 2021, a UN maritime tribunal reinforced this stance, declaring that the UK has no sovereignty over the islands.
The UK government’s decision to negotiate with Mauritius now, despite these legal challenges, appears to be a strategic move to preempt further international legal rulings that could force a British withdrawal from the islands. Foreign Minister Baroness Jenny Chapman admitted that the UK’s ongoing operation of the base has been under threat due to potential future rulings, and expressed confidence that this deal would finally secure the base legally for the UK and the U.S.
Despite these setbacks, figures like Nigel Farage have dismissed the rulings from international courts, calling them “obscure” and misguided. However, as Declassified UK highlights, the UK’s claim to the islands is rooted in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814 and has faced longstanding international opposition.
As the UK government seeks to finalize the agreement with Mauritius, it seems that the Chagossians will continue to suffer the consequences of British and international political decisions, with their right to return remaining a distant and unlikely hope. The debate over the Chagos Islands underscores the ongoing complexities surrounding the UK’s legal and moral obligations, while the Chagossian people continue to seek justice and recognition of their rights.
