Chagos Islanders seek to take U.K. government to court over deal with Mauritius

The Chagos Islands Photographer: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images (Pictures From History/Universal /Photographer: Pictures From Hist)

LONDON — Two women born on the Chagos Islands are seeking to take the British government to court over a proposed deal to transfer sovereignty of the disputed Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius.

Lawyers for the two women argued Monday that it was unlawful to exclude Chagossians from deciding the future of the tropical archipelago, home to a strategically important U.K.-U.S. naval and bomber base.

The U.K. government announced in October that it intends to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — though Britain would retain control of Diego Garcia, the largest island where the military base is located.

But negotiations have stalled, pending agreement from U.S. President Donald Trump’s government.

Britain evicted hundreds of people from the remote islands in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build the base on Diego Garcia. Many of the islanders were relocated to the U.K. and have faced legal challenges returning to their birthplace.

Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, both British citizens, fear it will become even harder to go back to live where they were born once Mauritius takes control of the islands.

“Chagossians were removed from their place of birth, without their consultation, and have been treated badly for 60 years,” said Pompe. “Since then we have been struggling to understand why we have been treated so poorly by the British government. I want to stay British and I also want the right to return to the Chagos Islands.”

The women’s lawyers have sent a legal letter to the U.K.‘s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which needs to respond by March 25.

Although an initial deal for the sovereignty transfer was agreed between Britain and Mauritius, the outcome of the talks now largely depends on whether the Trump administration approves it.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned last year that the deal posed “a serious threat” to U.S. national security.

The U.S. has described the military base on Diego Garcia, which is home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel, as “an all but indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.

The talks also became stuck after a change of government in Mauritius and quarrels over how much money the U.K. should pay for the lease of the Diego Garcia airbase.

Britain split the Chagos Islands away from Mauritius, a former British colony, in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence, and called the Chagos archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In recent years the United Nations and its top court have urged Britain to return the Chagos to Mauritius. In a non-binding 2019 opinion, the International Court of Justice ruled that the U.K. had unlawfully carved up Mauritius when it agreed to end colonial rule in the late 1960s.

Under the draft deal, a resettlement fund would be created for displaced islanders to help them move back to the islands — apart from Diego Garcia. Details of any such measures remain unclear.

Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press