The Memo: Despite legal challenge, Chagos Islands deal to go ahead

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has signed a deal to relinquish the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The UK will pay an average of £101 million per year in rent to retain its military base on Diego Garcia, one of the islands, for an initial term of 99 years, with an option to extend the lease by 40 years. It’s estimated that the total net cost of the deal over its lifetime will be £3.4 billion with inflation. 

To give a very brief history of the situation in the region, Britain has had control of the Chagos Islands since 1814. In 1968, the UK bought the islands from Mauritius for £3 million (roughly £45.7 million today) but Mauritius claims it was forced to hand over the islands to gain independence from the UK. Britain and the US then set up a joint military base in Diego Garcia, forcibly relocating up to 2,000 people in the process. Most headed to Mauritius, the Seychelles or England.  

Negotiations to return the islands to Mauritius began in 2022 under the Conservative government. These came after the UN adopted a non-binding resolution in February 2019 welcoming an International Court of Justice advisory opinion which demanded the UK withdraw from the region and give rule of the islands to Mauritius. 

The Labour government faces criticism from opposition parties, notably the Conservatives and Reform UK, over the deal. As well as critiquing the government for paying to give up British territory, they argue it leaves the UK vulnerable to China, which has close ties with Mauritius. One particular concern is that the deal states that the UK will inform Mauritius of any activity taken by the military base.  

However, Starmer argues that without a deal, the UK would be powerless to prevent other countries, such as China, from setting up their own bases on the islands or carrying out military exercises near the UK-US base. The agreement specifies that nothing can be built within a 24-mile zone around Diego Garcia without the UK’s permission. Foreign military and civilian forces will also not be allowed on the other islands, and the UK will be able to veto access to the islands. 

But it’s not just opposition parties that aren’t happy; the deal was held up for several hours on 22 May after a High Court judge granted a last-minute injunction to stop the signing. Two Chagossians, Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, claimed that Chagossians had unlawfully not been consulted over the future of the islands and did not trust Mauritius to treat them fairly, particularly when it comes to potential racial discrimination. The injunction was overturned later in the day by the High Court, and the signing went ahead. It will be up to Mauritius whether native Chagossians are allowed to resettle on the outer islands or not.  

The Trump administration approved the deal earlier this year, but the treaty must be approved by both the UK and Mauritian parliaments before it comes into effect.