The interim first minister of the Chagossian government in exile has said he is hopeful that Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will be stopped on Monday.
Louis Misley Mandarin spoke to The Independent ahead of two crucial decisions on the deal, which would see the UK pay Mauritious at least £120 million annually during a 99-year agreement to lease back the military base on Diego Garcia.
Members of the House of Lords are set to vote on the third and final reading of the legislation to ratify the Bill and could still vote it down.
The treaty will still have to return to the Commons for further debate after peers last week backed an amendment to force a renegotiation of the terms in order to ensure payments stop if the military base could no longer be used.
Defeat would be humiliating for the prime minister who has argued that he had no choice but to do a deal with Mauritius because of the threat of legal challenges through the United Nations, which could cripple the UK and USA’s use of the base on the archipelago.
Also on Monday, a further significant decision will be made in the high court over a legal challenge brought by the Chagossians over the alleged failure of the UK government to consult with them on the deal.
Mr Mandarin, who lives in the UK, said he wanted the islands to remain British sovereign territory with Chagossians allowed back under a home rule protectorate arrangement.
They argue that the agreement with Mauritius impacts their British citizenship as well as their rights to return home even though the deal includes resettlement in the outer islands.
The Chagossian first minister, whose government in exile was set up to stop the UK handing over their homeland to Mauritius, said: “I’m very, very hopeful about the vote in the Lords and high court ruling.
“No matter what happens we will continue to fight for it. We won’t let our homeland just slip out of our hands, just like that because of Keir Starmer’s policy, a policy that was not even in the Labour Party election manifested by the way.”
He complained that there has been no consultation with the UK government and they were ignored in the negotiation process.
He added: “At least, if they said, ‘self determination, have a referendum and vote for it,’ then that would be fair but Mauritius doesn’t want that.”
Mr Mandarin has also appealed in a letter to US president Donald Trump to change his mind on the deal and intervene.
He said: “We want the Americans to stop the deal, because they are relying on British sovereignty as well.”
The deal to transfer the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of the Diego Garcia military base, is projected to cost the UK £34.7 billionin rent fo the base.
Questions have been asked about the value of it to the taxpayer and whether the islands should be surrendered at all.
When he signed the deal, Sir Keir insisted it was the responsible thing to do.
He said: “President Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies, because they see the strategic importance of this base and that we cannot cede the ground to others who would seek to do us harm.”
He added: “If we did not agree this deal the legal situation would mean that we would not be able to prevent China or any other nation setting up their own bases on the outer islands or carrying out joint exercises near our base.
“No responsible government could let that happen.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
