5 things you should know
TODAY is the Third Reading of the government’s Chagos Islands sovereignty treaty bill handing the Chagos Islands’ sovereignty to Mauritius. Here are 5 things you should know
by Tessa Clarke, Editor, THE CHAGOS FILES
Today is the Third Reading of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill in the House of Lords.
If the Bill is enacted by the Houses of Parliament the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands - currently a British overseas territory - will pass to Mauritius. And Britain will lease one of the islands Diego Garcia as a military base that it will share with the US.
Here are 5 things about the issue and democracy you should know:
1. The Chagossian people who were forcibly removed from the islands 60 years ago have not been given a vote on what they want
2. The British Government never consulted the Chagossian people even though about half are British citizens living in Britain
3. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and (then) Foreign Secretary David Lammy never met all the Chagossian group leaders in the UK before they announced the agreement in principle with Mauritius in October 2024
4. The Labour Party Manifesto 2024, despite saying that a Labour government will follow international law, did not mention to the British electorate they intended to hand British sovereignty over to another state – which they immediately did on winning the election
5. Some Chagossian group leaders in the UK agree with the deal. However most want the Chagos Islands to remain British and for the right to re-settle, if not self-determination
To read the Bill, click here
To read opposition to the Bill from some key Chagossian Groups (in alphabetical order):
