LONDON: US President Donald Trump has, in a U-turn, withdrawn US support for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, calling it a “big mistake” and saying the claims made on the island “are fictitious”.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump called the 99-year lease Starmer has negotiated for the largest island, Diego Garcia, which hosts a joint UK-US military base, in exchange for handing over sovereignty of the entire archipelago to Mauritius “tenuous, at best”. He wrote: “This land should not be taken away from our ally” and said the US may use the military base in the event of a war with Iran. He wrote that the UK “have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism…DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”
The president’s attack on Starmer was a sharp reversal from two weeks ago and in direct contrast to a statement made on Tuesday by the US state department which said it “supports the decision of the UK to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago”.
It comes as four Chagossians landed on the archipelago in a rubber dinghy on Monday saying they plan to settle there. They include govt-in-exile first minister Misley Mandarin and his father Michel Mandarin (74), who was born on the island and removed from it when he was 14 and sent to Mauritius.
Chagossians were forcibly removed by the UK between 1968 and 1973, at the request of the US, to make way for the military base, and displaced to Mauritius, Seychelles and the UK.
On Wednesday a British patrol boat arrived and officials served the men, accompanied by ex Tory MP Adam Holloway, an eviction notice threatening prison or a £3,000 fine. The men vowed to stay and Misley said the British authorities will have to “kill” him to remove him.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “There is no legal right for anyone to enter the territory without a valid permit, regardless of their citizenship or heritage”, and called it an “illegal unsafe stunt”, adding it was working with Mauritius to resume a programme of heritage visits to the Chagos Archipelago for Chagossians. The spokesperson also indicated that Starmer planned to push ahead with the deal, saying it is “the only way to guarantee the long-term future of this vital military base” on Diego Garcia.
