The UK government’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius can go ahead, the High Court has ruled, after campaigners brought a last minute legal challenge overnight.
The deal, which would see Britain give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius and lease back a crucial military base there, was due to be signed on Thursday morning but was temporarily blocked by an injunction hours before.
Judge Sir Julian Goose put a pause on the treaty being signed at 3am this morning following hours of legal wrangling.
But after an urgent hearing on Thursday, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed the injunction.
“I have concluded that the stay granted by Mr Justice Goose should be discharged and there should be no further interim relief”, he said.
The government plans to get the deal signed today after Sir James Eadie KC, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), confirmed it was possible.
“My instructions from Number 10 are that we need a decision by 1pm today if we are to sign today, and everybody is standing by”, Sir James said.
Bertrice Pompe, who had initiated the emergency legal challenge, argued that the treaty would cause irreparable harm and violate fundamental legal and human rights principles.
She is a Chagossian, born on Diego Garcia and expelled at six months old. She grew up in the Seychelles and now lives in London. A British national, Ms Pompe—like thousands of Chagossians from the Seychelles and elsewhere—claims that she stands to gain nothing from the deal with Mauritius unless she applies for Mauritian citizenship.
The UK government has argued that a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the islands belong to Mauritius meant that it had no alternative but to negotiate a deal for the islands.
The agreement, which has still not been published, involves the UK leasing back the Diego Garcia base for at least 99 years for billions. The main block to signing was removed when Donald Trump gave the deal his blessing.
But critics believe it will undermine western security infrastructure in the Indian Ocean and could lead to Chinese interference in the islands.
Thursday’s legal challenge focused on the grievances of the Chagossians who were expelled from Diego Garcia. The UK government has negotiated the right to return to the outer islands, but islanders believe that their rights will not be protected.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick dubbed the Chagos deal a “bad deal” after the court injunction, telling Sky News it is a “sell-out for British interests”.
“You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China, and billions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money being spent for the privilege”, he said.
“Keir Starmer did it because of his view of international law, where he wanted to put a non-binding judgment by a foreign court above the interests, the core security interests of the British people.
“And so if this group can force the government to think twice, then all power to them.”
The government said the Chagos Islands deal is the “right thing” for the UK after a court injunction temporarily blocked the agreement from being concluded.
A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
