Keir Starmer SUED over ‘unlawful’ Chagos surrender: ‘Our human rights have been stripped away!’
The Labour Party is close to finalizing a deal to transfer control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. However, this plan has faced a new legal challenge. Just a few days ago, senior Conservative politicians said they would take the government to court over this issue. Now, two British women born on Diego Garcia, one of the islands in the Chagos archipelago, are also planning to sue the Foreign Office. They claim that the decision to give up the islands is illegal.
Diego Garcia is home to a military base shared by the UK and the US. The two women, Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, argue that the Chagos Islands should remain under British control. They also want the right to return and live on the islands where they were born. Their story was reported by The Telegraph. The Chagossian people were forced to leave their homes in the Indian Ocean by 1973 to make space for the military base. Their struggle has become a focal point for critics of Labour’s controversial plan to hand over the islands.
Dugasse and Pompe’s legal team has sent a formal letter to David Lammy’s department, warning that the Chagossian people were not consulted about the deal, which they say is unlawful. Pompe expressed her frustration, saying, “Chagossians were removed from their birthplace without being asked, and we’ve been treated poorly for 60 years. We’ve been trying to understand why the British government has treated us so badly. Our human rights have been taken away. Now, the government is making the same mistakes it did 60 years ago. Our suffering and pleas for justice have been ignored. I want to remain British, and I want the right to return to the Chagos Islands.”
Their lawyer, Michael Polak, added, “The government’s plan to give away the Chagossians’ homeland without formally consulting them continues the terrible treatment they’ve faced from authorities in the past.” The Foreign Office has until March 25 to respond to the letter. A spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on potential legal challenges. The negotiations were between the UK and Mauritius, with our priority being to ensure the full operation of the base on Diego Garcia. However, we’ve worked to make sure the agreement reflects the importance of the islands to the Chagossian people.”
In other news, the Waspi women (Women Against State Pension Inequality) are planning a protest in London. They are demanding compensation after what they call a “betrayal” by the Labour Party. The group claims that changes to the state pension age were poorly communicated, leaving many women financially disadvantaged. They are gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice to push for a judicial review, hoping to force the government to reconsider its decision not to offer compensation.
A previous report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman suggested that compensation between £1,000 and £2,950 might be appropriate for each affected woman. However, in December 2024, the government rejected the idea of a blanket compensation scheme, which could cost taxpayers up to £10.5 billion. The government acknowledged that there had been delays in informing women about the changes but argued that most women were aware of the changes by 2006.
The Waspi campaigners have raised over £150,000 recently to fund their legal challenge. Angela Madden, the chair of the group, said, “We don’t want to take legal action, but we’ve been forced to because the government has denied us justice.” A government spokesperson responded, “Evidence shows that by 2006, 90% of women born in the 1950s knew about the changes to the state pension age. We cannot justify a £10.5 billion compensation scheme at the expense of taxpayers.”
