Labour’s controversial plans to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius came under fire in the High Court today, where judges were told that Sir Keir Starmer’s Government made “unlawful decisions” and failed to properly consult Chagossian Britons about their rights and homeland.
Three British Chagossians, Misley Mandarin, Michel Mandarin, and Bertrice Pompe, are seeking permission to bring a full judicial review against the Government over its handling of the so-called Chagos Surrender, alleging serious procedural and equality failings.
The legal challenge, heard before Mrs Justice Stacey in the Administrative Court, argues that the Foreign Office acted unlawfully by excluding Chagossians from decisions about their right of abode, resettlement, and territorial interests in the Chagos Islands, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Counsel for the claimants, Philip Rule KC, told the court that the Government had shown a “reckless disregard for the Chagossian interests” and that the claim should be allowed to proceed. In written submissions, he accused the Foreign Office of making “unlawful decisions or omissions” by failing to “adequately and lawfully consult” Chagossians and by refusing to “acknowledge, accept and treat the existence of the Chagossian people… as an ethnic race of peoples” entitled to self-determination.
The claimants say that consultation was not only a moral duty but a legal requirement, particularly now that national security is no longer relied upon to prevent resettlement on the outer islands. They seek to quash “decisions and actions taken unlawfully by the defendant in relation to matters affecting the Chagossian people and their interests.”
The Great British PAC, which has championed the Chagossians’ legal fight and raised tens of thousands of pounds to help fund their case, has backed the claimants’ efforts. Great British PAC CEO Claire Bullivant previously said the hearing is “a crucial step toward righting a historic wrong” and praised supporters for “helping get this case before the High Court.”
Keir Starmer’s Government has faced growing criticism since announcing a deal earlier this year to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while leasing back the vital US-UK military base on Diego Garcia for 99 years. The deal was signed only hours after a last-minute High Court challenge by Ms Pompe briefly delayed the process, but it has yet to be ratified by Parliament.
The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill passed its Commons stages earlier this month, with the House of Lords due to debate the measure on Tuesday 4th November.
Critics, including several senior Conservatives, have branded the plan a betrayal of Britain’s own citizens. Jacob Rees-Mogg has said “it would be normal for Parliament to now suspend any progress relating to Chagos’ sovereignty until the Court has ruled.”
Now senior Labour backbencher Graham Stringer MP has also broken ranks, saying: “Parliament should suspend any ratification now until the Chagossians are heard at the full hearing.”
Representing the Foreign Office, Kieron Beal KC argued that the legal challenge amounted to a “collateral attack on an international agreement,” saying the Chagos Islands “is not, and has never been, part of the UK.”
He told the court that while the Government “expressed its sincere regret about the manner in which Chagossians were removed” in the 1970s, no Chagossian has ever had a legal right of abode in the territory. He added that the question of whether to allow resettlement was “necessarily now a matter for Mauritius.”
Mr Beal said compelling the Government to act as the claimants demand “would amount to a collateral attack on an international agreement” and force ministers to “exercise prerogative powers of treaty-making and international relations in a particular way, contrary to all authority and principle.”
Outside court, Barrister James Tumbridge from Keystone Law representing Misley Mandarin and his father said: “Morally British governments and British judges have said the treatment of Chagossians has been shameful, we hope there will be a decision to let them be heard as to why they deserve to be consulted.” Stuart Luke, director of law firm Luke and Bridger, which represented Ms Pompe, said his client “will continue to fight for her and her community’s rights.”
The claimants insist their case is not an attack on the treaty itself but on domestic decisions made without consultation, decisions they say have profound consequences for British citizens of Chagossian heritage.
The hearing concluded on Tuesday afternoon. Mrs Justice Stacey reserved judgment and is expected to deliver her ruling on whether the claim can proceed to a full judicial review by the end of next week.
