The Sovereignty Deal
we need to know more
Photo: Houses of parliament/UnsplashTransparency is not a word associated with the UK Government’s Chagos Islands sovereignty deal with Mauritius.
We were not told about the handover as a political policy in the 2024 Labour Party’s Election Manifesto. Few details in the secret bi-lateral talks were publicised in the early months of negotiations. Since the deal was announced members of Parliament, the Chagossian people and the public have not been able to find out easily the details of the sovereignty deal.
When the Government announced in October 2024 that the sovereignty deal had been agreed in principle, THE CHAGOS FILES began to investigate it. How democratic is the process to achieve the deal? What are the treaty terms? How does the Government treat Chagossians’ call for democratic rights?
Some key players and events include:
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a Statement to Parliament on 7 October 2024 confirming that past historical wrongs would be put right with a new British – Mauritian Trust Fund for Chagossians, British government support to UK Chagossians and, a programme of visits to the islands.
Jonathan Powell, then Special Envoy for the negotiations to the UK Prime Minister, told Channel 4 News on 3 October 2024 that those worried about the threat from China after sovereignty is handed over need not worry. He said, “when you come to see the treaty which is basically finished, when it’s signed and ratified, you’ll see that it does take care of any of those concerns in the text that we have.” He added, “I’m not going to be specific about exactly what it says.”
US President Donald Trump commented about the sovereignty deal at a press conference with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on 27 February 2025 that “I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.” However a year later on 20 January 2026 he called the deal an act of “GREAT STUPIDITY.”
As a result of the limited information there has been much speculation about the billions of pounds the new lease will cost British taxpayers. There is concern that Chinese security threats are being underplayed by the Government. Questions continue to be raised about whether Britain should accept the views of Judges at the International Court of Justice who have issued their non-binding advice against British sovereignty.
In the absence of a seat at the negotiating table some Chagossian campaigners fear their right to re-settle on their homeland, their democratic rights to self-determination and demands for compensation to be given directly to individuals will not feature in the final treaty.
The treaty terms were finalised on 22 May 2025. Talks between the UK, US and Mauritius are on-going. The British parliament has yet to ratify the treaty. President Trump has yet to officially oppose his administration’s support for the deal. If he does, the UK Government have said they will cancel the treaty.
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THE CHAGOS FILES is:
investigating the democratic aspects of the deal
exploring how the undemocratic and secretive parts of the process matter to all of us
following campaigners arguing for the democratic rights of the Chagossian people
