British Court Bans Last-minute Transfer Of Chagos Islands To Mauritius

• 22.05.2025, 16:03

One of them is home to a U.S. and British naval base.

A British court has blocked the transfer of sovereignty over the disputed Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This came hours before an agreement was due to be signed on Thursday.

This was reported by AP News.

The Chagos Archipelago issue

In October 2024, Britain agreed to hand over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius. One of the islands, Diego Garcia, hosts a U.S. and British naval base for ships and aircraft. London was expected to lease the base for a minimum of 99 years.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who was consulted, gave its approval, but finalizing the deal was delayed by last-minute negotiations over the cost.

The agreement was to be signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritius leader Navin Ramgoolam in a virtual ceremony on Thursday morning.

But hours earlier on Thursday, a High Court judge granted an injunction, halting the signing of the agreement.

The reason was a lawsuit by two women from the Chagos people, representing the islands' indigenous people, who were evicted decades ago to make way for a U.S. base.

The women, who are British citizens, fear that once Mauritius regains sovereignty over the islands, it will be even more difficult for them to return.

As a result, High Court Judge Julian Goose temporarily barred the British government from taking any "definitive or legally binding steps to finalize negotiations for the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government."

The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814. Britain separated the islands from Mauritius, a former British colony, in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence.

For seven years in the 60s and 70s, Britain forcibly removed the entire local population from the islands.