Lords debate Chagos and self-determination

A Conservative peer has cited Gibraltar in her call for the people of the Chagos Islands to be given a say before the territory is transferred to Mauritius.

The House of Lords was debating the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill.

As reported in the Gibraltar Chronicle, it passed a number of amendments, including one that would give Chagossians in the UK a referendum on whether the deal safeguards their rights - but only after the bill has passed. 

In October 2024, the UK signed a deal to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, decades after the population of the archipelago was displaced.

The deal will see the UK pay over 100 million pounds a year to lease back the use of the island of Diego Garcia, where it maintains a military base.

Debating the Chagos Bill in the Lords, Conservative peer Baroness Meyer said referendums were "rightly" held in the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar, and that "the will of the people to remain British was respected".

But there were differing views as to whether the principle of self-determination applied to the Chagossians.

Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Baroness Chapman, said the negotiations were "necessarily state to state", with the priority being "to secure the full operation of the base on Diego Garcia".

She said according to successive UK governments and domestic and international courts, "there is no right to self-determination therefore there is no legal entitlement to a referendum" for the Chagossians.

The bill will now return to the House of Commons.