Has the UK-Mauritius Chagos Treaty stalled?

Opinion

An overall settlement of the long-running Chagos dispute is essential for the integrity of UK foreign policy and its respect for human rights and the rule of law

By David Snoxell
British High Commissioner to Mauritius, 2000-04
& Coordinator of the Chagos Islands APPG

The Treaty was signed 9 months ago by both prime ministers on 22 May last year. Unlike Mauritius the UK government has been obliged to pass a bill through Parliament before it ratifies the treaty. The Diego Garcia and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill has cleared all stages in both Houses except that after Parliament returns from its recess on 23 February the Lords will consider amendments from the Commons. This process is dubbed ‘ping pong’ and could result in a further round if the Lords and Commons cannot agree. Once this has concluded the Bill will receive Royal Assent and become law. A date for ratification and implementation will then be agreed with Mauritius.

Chagos Protests. Pic – TRT Afrika

There have been frequent delays since 3 November 2022 when the two governments announced that “The UK and Mauritius have agreed to engage in constructive negotiations with a view to arriving at an agreement by early next year”. This was ambitious timing and took 2 years 6 months. It had been expected that there would be an agreement (treaty) in place before the three general elections in the UK (4 July 2024), the US (5 Nov 2024) and Mauritius (10 Nov 2024). Constitutional, political and practical delays on all sides slowed down the negotiations. The Bill which was started in the Commons on 15 July 2025 has already taken 8 months. It has to be said that as with all legislation nowadays, party politics are the intended cause of much of the delay in Parliament.

Within 19 days of taking office Sir Keir Starmer met PM Jugnauth in the Foreign Office on 23 July 2024 to affirm his intention of continuing the11 rounds of negotiations begun by the previous government. On 3 October 2024 a joint agreement was announced by the UK and Mauritian governments, just 5 weeks before the US and Mauritian elections. There was talk of getting the treaty signed before President Biden left office on 20 January 2025, but it was felt that President Trump and Prime Minister Ramgoolam should be able to review the draft treaty beforehand. This took several weeks with the result that further changes were agreed though the details have not been made public.

This prolonged delay enabled those opposed to the negotiations and the treaty (politicians, media outlets, academic and legal commentators, British Chagossians) to have the time to campaign and coordinate their opposition to the Bill and Treaty.

There has been intense scrutiny of the Bill in Parliament since it was introduced last July. In June 2025 a report of the International Agreements Committee (IAC) of the House of Lords was adopted with all-party unanimity and concluded the Treaty should be ratified.  A subsequent vote in the Lords on 30 June 2025 endorsed that conclusion and rejected an Opposition motion to the contrary, paving the way for ratification.

The first reading of the Bill in the Commons was on 15 July 2025 and its third reading on 20 October. The Bill then went to the Lords where the first reading was 21 October and third reading on 7 January. There have been six major debates in both Houses, some taking up to 6 hours, as well as hundreds of Parliamentary Questions, several Urgent Questions, numerous interventions in debates and ministerial statements.  Amendments proposed in the Lords were considered by the Commons on 20 January 2026 and others from the Commons went back to the Lords on 26 January which should be considered shortly.

An overall settlement of the long-running Chagos dispute is essential for the integrity of UK foreign policy and its respect for human rights and the rule of law. This issue has dogged Britain’s foreign policy and undermined our reputation and standing on the international stage for 60 years. Since 1945 the UK has been a leading exponent of international law. Compliance with UN General Assembly resolutions and rulings by the ICJ and other courts and tribunals on Chagos will restore the UK’s reputation as a law-abiding nation that respects the rules-based international order.

Those who oppose the settlement conveniently ignore five facts: first, a recent  House of Lords survey has shown that the majority of Chagossians who live in Mauritius and Seychelles support the treaty; second, it is the only way resettlement can take place; third, the UK made a legally binding commitment in 1965 to return Chagos to Mauritius; fourth, the treaty is supported by the UN, Commonwealth, EU and Five Eyes Alliance; and fifth, Mauritius is not in hock with China — its closest allies are the West and India.

Following criticism by President Trump of the Treaty last month he and his Administration twice reconfirmed their support for it. In a third U-turn on 18 February the President contradicted the Administration. Talks between the US and Mauritius in Port Louis next week may find a way forward that they and the UK can accept.

Many commentators vehemently criticise the Treaty as “ceding” or “surrendering” British Sovereignty, claiming that the ICJ Advisory Opinion can be ignored as non-binding and that the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea does not have jurisdiction over sovereignty disputes. In so doing they ignore the elephant in the room, namely that the customary international law of decolonisation has now crystallised, and that by ignoring territorial integrity and the right to self-determination when the Chagos Archipelago was detached in 1965, Britain forfeited its claim to sovereignty over the Islands. Like it or not Chagos became part of independent Mauritius in 1968. The Treaty is Britian’s acknowledgement of this reality, albeit 60 years later.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 20 February 2026