The United Nations has delivered a stark warning to Westminster: the deal that would hand the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius cannot proceed while the very people who call those islands home are shut out of the room. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called on both the United Kingdom and Mauritius to suspend ratification of their recently signed agreement, cautioning that it risks entrenching decades of abuse against the Chagossians and breaching international law.
Acting under its early warning and urgent action procedures, CERD voiced “deep concern” over the agreement, which was signed on 22 May 2025 and still awaits domestic ratification. The committee found that the deal fails to secure the free, prior and informed consent of the Chagossian people, and that it carries provisions designed to bar their return to Diego Garcia, the archipelago’s largest island.
A deal struck without the people it affects most
According to CERD, negotiating and drafting the agreement without the “meaningful participation” of Chagossians is “affecting their rights and lands” and “restricting the exercise of their right to self-determination.”
Barrister James Tumbridge, a longstanding advocate for Chagossian rights, said the UN’s conclusions lay bare just how grave the matter has become. “The UN says the UK give away of the Chagossian homeland must stop,” Tumbridge said. “Regarding reports that the Chagossian people had not been adequately consulted during the negotiation and drafting of the agreement, the UN Committee said that the lack of meaningful participation of Chagossian people is affecting their rights and lands, and restricting the exercise of their right to self-determination. The Committee called on both Mauritius and the United Kingdom to suspend ratification of the agreement, and to engage immediately in a renewed dialogue to ensure the free, prior and informed consent of the Chagossian people. It’s time to talk to the people!”
The terms of the agreement would transfer sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius, while Britain retains Diego Garcia under a 99 year lease that could be extended for a further 40 years. Diego Garcia is home to a major joint US and UK military base.
CERD cautioned that these arrangements run counter to the 2019 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN General Assembly resolution that followed it. Both required the United Kingdom to bring its administration of the islands to an end “as rapidly as possible” and to clear the way for Chagossian resettlement without obstruction.
Forced displacement and claims still left unanswered
The Chagos Archipelago was severed from Mauritius in 1965 amid decolonisation and held by Britain as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Across the years from 1968 to 1973, the entire Chagossian population—an ethnic community of African and South Asian heritage—was forcibly expelled to make room for the US and UK base on Diego Garcia. Ever since, the community has lived in exile, mainly in Mauritius, Seychelles and the United Kingdom.
Even though the ICJ ruled that their removal breached the right to self-determination, the Chagossians are still denied any guaranteed right to return, restitution or compensation. CERD pointed out that the new agreement offers no full reparations and no formal recognition of the historic injustices they endured.
Judicial Review in the UK still pending
The UN’s intervention lands while a Judicial Review in the United Kingdom—brought with the backing of the Great British PAC—awaits its verdict. That challenge questions the lawfulness of the government’s negotiations and decision making on Chagos policy, including the claimed exclusion of Chagossian communities from the process.
Campaigners contend that ministers cannot lawfully decide the islands’ future while sidelining the people most directly affected. The forthcoming ruling could carry serious consequences for whether the agreement can survive at all.
The Committee’s demands for immediate dialogue
CERD has called on both governments to:
- Suspend ratification of the 22 May agreement
- Engage in renewed dialogue with Chagossians
- Guarantee free, prior and informed consent in all future negotiations
- Uphold the right of return, including to Diego Garcia
- Provide effective remedies and full reparation for past harms
The committee stressed that both the United Kingdom and Mauritius are bound to act in line with their obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
“It’s time to talk to the people”
For Chagossians and human rights campaigners alike, the UN’s verdict could not be plainer: no settlement over the archipelago’s future can hold any legitimacy unless it is reached in direct dialogue with the people who were torn from it.