Just hours before the agreement to officially make the handover was made, a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after claims were made by two of the original residents of the islands.
Fiona Hanson
The debate over which country has the most authentic claim over the Chagos islands became heated during 2024, as the Maldives and Mauritius lay claim to the islands – starting a months-long debate that would ultimately end with a joint statement by the Prime Minister of the UK and Mauritius on 3 October 2024 as the UK agreed to give the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius. The statement published at the time also noted that the handover would include Diego Garcia, the reason for the Maldives getting involved due to the proximity of the islands.
Although this decision was reached and the joint statements were published, resting the matter of the Chagos Islands, on 22 May 2025, there was yet another pause in the official handover of the islands to Mauritius. Just hours before the agreement to officially make the handover was made, a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after claims were made by two of the original residents of the islands.
According to Politico, at 2.25 a.m. on Thursday, High Court justice Julian Nicholas Goose granted an interim relief to Bertrice Pompe, an original resident of Diego Garcia, as she objected to the plan on the grounds that it failed to fully consult those living on the Chagos Islands regarding the final decisions that were reached. Although this brought about yet another twist in the long fight to handover the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, during the follow-up hearing held on Thursday morning, High Court judge Martin Chamberlain ordered the injunction to be discharged.
Following this dismissal, Prime Minister of the U.K, Keir Starmer confirmed that the islands will return to Mauritius with Britain agreeing to pay £101 million (USD135 million) a year as part of the package, for a total cost of £3.4 billion (USD4.5 bn).
