Diego Garcia Legislation Postponed Until 2026

Destroyer USS John Finn arrives at the strategic naval base at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories (USN)

The British government has confirmed that the next stage of the legislative process to enact the UK's agreement to hand over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius has been postponed until 2026, while alternative solutions are explored.

The progress of the legislation, which needs to be passed by both houses of Parliament before ratification of the treaty with Mauritius can take place, has been upset by a recognition that the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands were not consulted before the agreement to consign them to Mauritius was agreed. The government assessed that an amendment to force reconsideration of the handover, hinged on this matter, was in danger of being agreed in the House of Lords. This would in effect have sunk the legislation.

At the same time, a court case calling for a judicial review to prevent the government's handover is being heard in the British High Court, the point of law being again the lack of consultation with Chagos islanders. Many Chagos islanders would like to remain British, and have greater faith that the British government would allow them to return to outer islands in the archipelago than would the government of Mauritius.

At the center of the move to surrender the Chagos and to provide continuance for the US Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia, is the UK's Attorney General, Lord Hermer. Lord Hermer is also believed to have ruled last week that the United Kingdom should no longer pass intelligence to the United States on matters concerning anti-drug running operations off Venezuela, based on his assessment that the interdictions of drug-running craft in recent weeks fall foul of international law. The United States will not be overly constrained by a lack of intelligence pertaining to this one particular area. But by courtesy of islands in the Caribbean which still fly the British flag, and other countries close to Venezuela such as Guyana which are members of the Commonwealth, the United Kingdom still conducts pertinent intelligence collection in the area which would aid American operations. In normal times, HMS Medway (P223) and HMS Trent (P224), the Royal Navy's patrol vessels permanently assigned to the area, work in close conjunction with the US Coast Guard, US Navy and the Drugs Enforcement Agency.

Haul from a $267M joint US-UK drug seizure displayed on board HMS Trent (UK MoD)