UK FINALIZES AGREEMENT TO TRANSFER CHAGOS ISLANDS SOVEREIGNTY TO MAURITIUS

Fri 23 May 2025:

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the British government had completed an agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, following a brief delay due to a court-ordered injunction.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon, Starmer emphasized that the deal was “absolutely vital for our defence and intelligence, and therefore, for the safety and security of the British people”. The multibillion-dollar agreement secures the UK’s control over the strategically vital US-UK airbase on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Indian Ocean archipelago, through a 99-year lease.

“The strategic location of this base is of the utmost significance to Britain,” Starmer said.

“By agreeing to this deal now, on our terms, we’re securing strong protections, including from malign influence, that will allow the base to operate well into the next century,” he added.

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The signing comes just hours after a High Court judge early on Thursday imposed an injunction postponing Starmer’s virtual signing ceremony with Mauritian representatives.

Judge Martin Chamberlain lifted the injunction following a hearing later in the day, clearing the way for the UK to sign the deal.

The court’s injunction was in response to a claim by two Chagossian women representing the islands’ original residents, who were evicted decades ago to make way for the airbase.

Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, both British citizens, said they feared it would become even harder to return once Mauritius takes control of the islands.

High Court judge Julian Goose had blocked the UK government from taking any “conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations” to hand over the territory to a foreign government.

Following the injunction’s removal, Pompe said it was “a very sad day” and vowed to continue fighting. “We do not want to hand over our rights to Mauritius. We are not Mauritians,” she said outside the High Court.

“The rights we are asking for now, we have been fighting for for 60 years,” Pompe said, adding, “Mauritius is not going to give that to us.”

Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who had questioned the deal when he took office for the second time last November, said in a televised broadcast on Thursday that it symbolised the completion of “the total process of decolonisation”.

“It’s total recognition of our sovereignty on the Chagos, including Diego Garcia,” said Ramgoolam, speaking in the local Creole language.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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