UK Government Temporarily Blocked from Finalizing Chagos Islands Deal by High Court Injunction

The UK government has been temporarily barred from concluding a controversial agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, following a late-night injunction granted by a High Court judge.

At 02:25 BST, Mr Justice Goose issued an order providing “interim relief” to two Chagossian women who filed a legal case against the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

High Court Halts Signing Ceremony

The ruling came just hours before Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was due to attend a virtual signing ceremony with representatives of the Mauritian government on Thursday morning. The planned agreement would have seen the UK formally transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands — part of the British Indian Ocean Territory — to Mauritius.

Under the proposed deal, the UK and US would retain use of a key military airbase on the archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific as previously stated.

In the court order, Justice Goose stated:

“The defendant shall take no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer.”

Case Resumes Thursday Morning

The case is scheduled to return to court at 10:30 AM (BST) Thursday, where arguments will be heard in full.

This development comes amid increasing political and legal scrutiny over the fate of the Chagos Archipelago, whose native inhabitants were forcibly removed in the 1960s and 70s to make way for the US military base on Diego Garcia — a move widely condemned internationally.

More updates will follow as the situation develops.