A UN committee has called on the government not to ratify its treaty on the future of the Chagos Islands – warning it will “perpetuate longstanding violations of the Chagossian people’s rights”.
The last-minute intervention further increases the pressure on ministers to scrap the deal, which has faced fierce criticism from the Conservatives.
The landmark bilateral agreement was signed in May this year and would see the UK hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. It would mean Britain formally gives up sovereignty of the Indian Ocean territory.
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But the government would continue to hold on to the vital UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia, by leasing it from Mauritius for 99 years, with the possibility of a 40-year extension. The agreement would also see the UK pay billions of pounds to Mauritius to do so.
However, the UN has strongly criticised the deal for not allowing the Chagossian people to return to their ancestral homelands on Diego Garcia.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed “deep concern” at the terms of the deal, and has warned it will harm Chagossians.
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Why does the UK currently control the Chagos Islands?
The Chagos Islands became legally separated from Mauritius in 1965 as the UK decolonised, and Mauritius became an independent nation three years later.
But the UK continued to hold on to the Chagos Archipelago and those that lived there – mostly people of African and South Asian descent – were forcibly removed to make way for the military base on Diego Garcia.
It is these people that the UN committee is concerned about.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Britain’s continued separation of the Chagos Islands from Mauritius violated the Chagossian people’s right to self-determination and called for the UK to end control over the territory. The UN General Assembly subsequently called for the complete decolonisation of the islands.
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Why is the UN against the deal?
In a report published on Monday, the UN committee concluded that the terms of the new deal “explicitly prevents the return of the Chagossian people to their ancestral lands in Diego Garcia Island”.
This is despite the agreement being presented by the UK government as a way to implement the ICJ’s ruling, the report states.
It said this means the agreement is “inconsistent with the UN General Assembly resolution”.
The committee has also concluded that the deal prevents Chagossian people from “exercising their cultural rights and preserving their cultural heritage”, which it says is another violation of the UN resolution.
The group also criticised the UK government for a lack of consultation with Chagossians, which it said means the agreement is “restricting the exercise of their right to self-determination”. It further criticised the deal for not providing full reparations or providing any acknowledgement of “past injustices”.
The UN committee has now called on the UK and Mauritius to suspend ratification of the treaty and to resume negotiations with the Chagossian people, and to guarantee full reparations.
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Tories accuse Sir Keir of trying to ‘bulldoze’ the deal through
The Tories have seized on the UN’s criticism and said the UN has “called [Sir Keir] out”.
The party oppose the deal, not because they believe Chagossians should have more say over their future, but because they argue that the UK should not cede control of the islands at all.
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Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Keir Starmer is desperate to kowtow to China at every opportunity – so much so he is handing over British sovereign territory and £35bn of taxpayers’ cash to a Beijing ally.
“In forcing through this Chagos surrender, he has ignored the Chagossians. And now the UN has called him out for it.
“Starmer prides himself on international law and human rights, so will he now halt ratification of the deal as the UN calls for? Or will he try to bulldoze through all opposition and trample on Chagossians once again to win favour from [Chinese President] Xi Jinping?”
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Responding to the warning from the UN, a spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We recognise the importance of the islands to Chagossians.
“Under the treaty, Mauritius will be able to develop a programme of resettlement to islands other than Diego Garcia, and the UK has separately committed to support heritage visits to the archipelago, including Diego Garcia.”
It is understood that the government prioritised ensuring access to the UK-US military base, though it insists it did engage regularly with Chagossians.
