Chagos Islands deal paused via last-minute prison motion

The govt has briefly been banned from concluding talks at the Chagos Islands deal via a last-minute injunction via a High Court pass judgement on.

At 02:25 BST Mr Justice Goose granted “interim relief” to 2 Chagossian girls who had introduced a case in opposition to the Foreign Office.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were anticipated to wait a digital signing rite with representatives of the Mauritian govt on Thursday morning.

The settlement would see the United Kingdom hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, however permit the United Kingdom and US to proceed the usage of an army base situated at the Pacific Ocean archipelago for an preliminary duration of 99 years.

The UK govt is but to set out the estimated bills the British taxpayer would make to Mauritius as a part of the deal, however it’s anticipated to run into the billions.

Responding to the court docket injunction, a central authority spokesperson stated: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”

The court docket will pay attention the case once more at 10:30 on Thursday.

The prison motion used to be introduced via two Chagossian girls, Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrie Pompe.

Earlier this 12 months, their attorney Michael Polak stated: “The government’s attempt to give away the Chagossians’ homeland whilst failing to hold a formal consultation with the Chagossian people is a continuation of their terrible treatment by the authorities in the past.

“They stay the folks with the nearest connection to the islands, however their wishes and needs are being unnoticed.”

In his early-morning order, the judge said: “The defendant shall take no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations in regards to the imaginable switch of the British Indian Ocean Territory, sometimes called the Chagos Archipelago, to a international govt or bind itself as to the specific phrases of this type of switch.”

“The defendant is to handle the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory till additional order.”

The order states that the judge granted the injunction “upon attention of the claimant’s software for period in-between reduction constructed from court docket hours” and “upon studying the defendants’ reaction”.

The Chagos Archipelago was separated from Mauritius in 1965, when Mauritius was still a British colony.

Britain purchased the islands for £3m, but Mauritius has argued it was illegally forced to give away the islands in order to get independence from Britain.

In the late 1960s Britain invited the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia and removed thousands of people from their homes on the island.

An immigration order, issued in 1971, prevented the islanders from returning.

In recent years, the UK has come under growing international pressure to return the islands to Mauritius, with both the United Nations’ top court and general assembly siding with Mauritius over sovereignty claims.

In late 2022, the previous Conservative government began negotiations over control of the territory but did not reach an agreement by the time it lost power in the 2024 general election.

The Conservatives have been strongly critical of the government’s deal.

In February, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel called the agreement “botched and humiliating” accusing the government of “giving freely one of the crucial vital strategic army property that we cling”.

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said the UK would be paying “eye-watering” sums to Mauritius and steered the islands will have to be passed to the USA as an alternative.