UK’s plan to hand Chagos Islands to Mauritius has caused ‘deep concern’ among Chagossians in Crawley

Under the £3.4 billion deal, the UK will lease back Diego Garcia – the largest of the Chagos Islands – which is home to a joint UK-US military base.

The controversial deal was agreed by the UK and Mauritius back in May 2025, but has not yet been ratified by UK Parliament. The deal has also been criticised by US President Donald Trump, who said the move was an "an act of GREAT STUPIDITY" – months after he endorsed the move.

The UK purchased the Chagos Islands – officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory – for £3 million in 1965, but Mauritius has argued they were forced to give the islands away as part of an agreement to gain independence from Britain.

The UK invited the United States to build a military base on Diego Garcia in the late 60s, and the decision was taken to forcibly remove the islanders from the archipelago. The Chagossians were deposited on Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagossians were also given the right to UK citizenship, with most British Chagossians choosing to relocate to Crawley.

Frankie Bontemps of Chagossian Voices, a grassroots Chagossian community organisation run by Chagossian community members, said: “The proposed UK-Mauritius agreement on the Chagos Islands has caused deep concern among Chagossians in Crawley and across the UK.

“Many in our community – particularly native Chagossians who were forcibly exiled from the islands and still dream of being reunited with their birthplace – feel once again excluded from decisions about their homeland, despite being the people most directly affected.”

The UK will hand sovereignty of the archipelago back to Mauritius, but it will lease Diego Garcia for 99 years. Britain will reportedly pay £165 million in each of the first three years, before paying £120 million a year from years four to 13. Payments after that will reportedly be linked to inflation.

And although Mauritius will control Diego Garcia, it will not be allowed to resettle the island.

Mr Bontemps added: “At the heart of this issue is the denial of the Chagossian people’s right to self-determination. Chagossians have not been meaningfully consulted on this deal, nor given the opportunity to consent to it. Instead, decisions about our future are once again being made without us.

“It is also difficult to see how this agreement can be described as fair when Chagossians will be barred from resettling Diego Garcia for the next 99 years. Diego Garcia was home to the majority of Chagossians before their forced exile and is the main island of the Chagos Archipelago, accounting for nearly 60% of its total land area. Excluding Chagossians from Diego Garcia effectively excludes them from the heart of their homeland.

“In Crawley, home to one of the largest Chagossian communities in the world, this has reopened deep wounds. Elders fear they will never return in their lifetime, while younger generations see yet another settlement that speaks about Chagos without Chagossians.

“Our message to Prime Minister Keir Starmer is clear: any agreement that ignores the Chagossian people’s right to self-determination, excludes them from their main island, and denies meaningful participation cannot be considered just or legitimate.

“Chagossian Voices calls for a resolution that places Chagossians at the centre of decision-making, guarantees the right of return – including to Diego Garcia – and delivers justice, not another chapter of exclusion.”

The proposed deal has also been criticised by the two largest political parties in Crawley.

Speaking in Parliament in September 2025, the Labour MP for Crawley Peter Lamb said: “I can see no logical reason why the government would go through the painful process of bringing this bill to the floor if they were not 100% convinced that it was in the UK’s national security interests.

“However, I am afraid that I must vote against the government because I believe that no matter how important those concerns, I do not believe they give us the right to override the Chagossian people’s right to self-determination.

“I believe that we cannot vote to give away these islands because they are not our islands to give away in the first place.

“I have known and worked alongside members of the British Chagossian community for almost two decades, and as a council leader I promised them that as a part of Crawley’s community it was my job to be their voice to the government and not the other way around. It is that promise which leads me to vote against this deal.

“It is true to say there are Chagossians who enthusiastically support the deal, just as there are those who desperately oppose it. That is the same with any community on absolutely any issue.

“But what is not disputed is that the islands belong to the Chagossians and that it is for that people and for that people alone to decide the future of their homeland – and we have not given them the chance to decide their future.

“Until every Chagossian has had the chance to have their say, I cannot support this deal.”

Duncan Crow, member for community support, fire and rescue at West Sussex County Council and Conservative councillor for Tilgate & Furnace Green, said: “We have seen 13 U-turns from the Labour Government since they came to power 18 months ago, but when it comes to their shoddy and appalling deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, an ally of communist China, U-turn number 14 needs to happen.

“Sadly, Labour seems determined to sell out our national interests and pay £35 billion to Mauritius for doing so.

“Amid a government prone to mistakes, this one is of huge and long-lasting consequences. While the Chagos Islands have national and international significance, for Crawley they have local significance as we are the home of the largest Chagossian community outside of Mauritius.

“The historical injustices are well documented, and because they are, that makes creating a new injustice all the more deplorable. Throughout the whole disgraceful process, Chagossian people have been ignored and treated with contempt by the Labour Government.

“While most utterings of the current White House incumbent are ridiculous, a stopped clock is right twice a day, and Trump was right when he branded the Chagos Islands deal “an act of great stupidity”. While any pause is welcome, only U-turn number 14 and scrapping the deal for good is acceptable.”