Labour’s Chagos Islands defence just hit a major stumbling block

The article argues that the Government’s case for transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been weakened by a minister’s written answer about the UK’s legal protections under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It says ministers presented an urgent legal threat as a key reason for the deal, which transfers sovereignty while leasing Diego Garcia back to the UK for a joint UK-US military base.

Foreign Office Minister Uma Kumaran said on 28 October that the UK’s Article 298 declarations apply to all UK overseas territories where UNCLOS applies, including the British Indian Ocean Territory. Article 298 allows countries to exclude disputes about military activities from compulsory international adjudication. The article argues this means the protection covered the whole Chagos territory, and notes that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea cannot order one country to transfer its land to another.