Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been reported to the ICC for “crimes against humanity” after indigenous people from the Chagos Islands accused him of “deportation or forcible transfer of population.”
Back in May, the Labour government signed a £3.4 billion deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The Chagos Islands were retained by the UK as an overseas territory when Mauritius won its independence in 1968, but the construction of the Diego Garcia base in the 1970s saw “one of the longest-standing and most egregious cases of displacement in modern history”, campaigners have alleged.
Credit: History/imageBROKER/Shutterstock
As part of the May agreement, the UK will continue to lease Diego Garcia from Mauritius for the grand sum of £47 billion over the next 99 years. Locals will not be allowed to return to the area when Mauritius takes over ownership later in the year, hence the legal action, according to The Telegraph.
“By signing and promoting the May 22, 2025 agreement, the Prime Minister has knowingly entrenched deportation, persecution and other inhumane acts,” the referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) reads.
Bertrice Pompe, who was born on Diego Garcia, is leading the charge against the deal. She earlier managed to secure an interim injunction against the treaty, but it was quickly overturned.
Last night I voted against the Government’s plans to give away the Chagos Islands.
Labour has decided to surrender British territory and it’s costing £35 billion of your money in the process. pic.twitter.com/Mrda0cohf8
— Bradley Thomas MP
(@BradleyThomasUK) September 10, 2025
“We are pleading with all those who have the power to make a difference to please step in and stop these crimes against humanity,” she said. “We are the indigenous of the Chagos Islands, we bear their name, and we need our voices to be heard.”
Campaigners penned an open letter to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, and it’s now up to the International Criminal Court to decide whether to open a crimes against humanity case against the Prime Minister.
The ICC is yet to respond, but Keir Starmer’s own MPs have turned on him
The ball is now in the ICC’s court, and while Keir Starmer is yet to respond to claims he has committed “crimes against humanity”, MPs from both Labour and the Conservatives have condemned the treaty.
“The islands belong to the Chagossians, and it is for that people and that people alone to decide the future of their homeland. We have not given the chance to decide that future,” Peter Lamb, the Labour MP for Crawley, said. “Until every Chagossian has had the chance to have their say, I cannot support this deal.”
He says he believes the islands have been given away for legitimate national security reasons, but Chagossians have been treated poorly and the future of Chagos should be decided by “that people and that people alone”.
— Tony Diver (@Tony_Diver) September 9, 2025
Priti Patel, the Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary, also said: “With our sovereignty over this base being surrendered, it comes as no surprise, I think, to all members of this House, our enemies are now queuing up to, guess what? Make friends with Mauritius. Just days before the surrender treaty was signed, Russia agreed with Mauritius a new partnership agreement, which includes marine research. That means, so called marine research conducted by Russia could take place just a handful of miles away from our base.
“And as well as that partnership with Russia, Mauritius has been courted extensively by Iran and China, for further partnerships in a range of other areas.”
More information is expected to follow as the story develops.
For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.
Credit: History/imageBROKER/Shutterstock and NEIL HALL/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock
