Petitions rise against the UK government’s Chagos Islands sovereignty deal

photo: The House of Commons/ petition.parliament.uk

On 1 May THE CHAGOS FILES received a confidential email at our thechagosfiles@proton.me secure email. 

Following further research we found a rise in the number of petitions launched on Parliament’s Petitions website and Change.org against the UK Government’s Chagos Islands sovereignty deal with Mauritius.

The petition Grant Chagossians a referendum to decide the future of Chagos Islands is one of the latest against the Chagos sovereignty deal.

Launched on 13 March 2025 it asks that any agreement on sovereignty of the Chagos Islands be “subject to a consultative referendum by the Chagossian diaspora living in the UK, commonwealth, and overseas territories.” Supported by 219 signatories, it is organised by an individual called Sarah Ashford. 

There are other petitions:

• Challenge the UK Government Decision to Relinquish Ownership of the Chagos Islands
  This petition calls for the question of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to be discussed in Parliament and for it to be put to the British public in the form of a referendum.
  Date Opened: 4 October 2024
  Petition Creator: Richard Yorke
  Current Signatures: 507

• Review decision to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius
  This calls for the UK government to review its decision to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, citing strategic concerns.
  Date Opened: 30 December 2024
  Petition Creator: James Sushant Varma Bond
  Current Signatures: 13,486 (as of 5 May 2025)
  Response: The petition received a response from the FCDO on 13 February 2025:
  “We achieved our primary objective in negotiations with Mauritius: to protect the future of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The treaty will be put before Parliament for scrutiny and debate.”

• Referendum on UK sovereignty over the Chagos Islands
  Calls for the UK government to hold a referendum on transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
  Date Opened: 17 January 2025
  Petition Creator: Paul Nixon
  Current Signatures: 934 (as of 5 May 2025)

• Hold an inquiry before transferring the Chagos Islands to Mauritius
  Calls for an open and transparent inquiry into the UK’s proposal to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
  Date Opened: 29 January 2025
  Petition Creator: Helen Alred
  Current Signatures: 205 (as of 5 May 2025)

• Give the Chagos Islands to the USA
  Asks that the Chagos Islands be gifted to the USA so that they can “build a space-port for sending rockets to Mars.”
  Date Opened: 19 March 2025
  Petition Creator: Adrian Geoffrey Gilbert
  Current Signatures: 28 (as of 5 May 2025)

There is also a petition on the website of Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT). Their Petition by FOTBOT asks the UK government to prioritise “national security, fiscal responsibility, and the welfare of the Chagossian people over Mauritius’ unfounded territorial claim.”

Conservative Post (UK) has launched a petition on 9 October 2024  I demand the British Labour government reverse their outrageous decision. The Chagos Islands must remain British on its website too. It calls for the reversal of the sovereignty decision, claiming that it betrays the Chagossians and undermines British national security and strategic interests of the West.

These active petitions have been set up since the Government announced the sovereignty deal on 3 October 2024. They have been launched in the context of wide disagreement among Chagossians and mainstream British political parties about the deal. 

Chagossian groups and individuals in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles where they mainly live disagree about what should be done about the islands. 

The Chagos Refugee Group (CRG), for example, believe they should remain with Mauritius. While other groups such as Chagossian Voices and BIOT Citizen believe they should remain British, with various ideas being suggested about the territory eventually being handed over to Chagossian people or Chagossians and Britain having a joint-political partnership of some kind. All groups believe the Chagossians should have a right to re-settle.

Political party leaders such as Kemi Badenoch, Conservative Party leader, and Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, have voiced strong opposition to the Chagos Islands agreement.

Badenoch criticises the deal as "an immoral surrender," arguing that it is not in the UK's national interest to "give away the Chagos Islands and pay for the privilege of doing so." She emphasises concerns over the financial implications stating that the funds involved "belong to our children and their children".

Farage labels the agreement a "rotten deal" for the UK, the US, and the Chagossians. He suggests that the UK should consider selling the islands to the United States rather than transferring them to what he described as "corrupt Mauritius". Farage also called for a referendum among the Chagossian people to determine the sovereignty of the islands. 

The Labour Government, however, remains committed to signing a treaty with Mauritius. 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the agreement by stating, "This is a military base [Diego Garcia] that is vital to our national security. A number of years ago, the legal certainty of that base was thrown into doubt,” adding that without legal certainty the base cannot operate effectively and undermine national security.

To be considered for a debate in Parliament each petition must reach 100,000 signatures. At 10,000 signatures the government is required to respond.

Will any of the petitions reach the 100,000 benchmark to be debated in parliament?

Alexia Psalti/ 5 May 2025