Sir Keir Starmer could be in for an another headache over his Chagos deal after campaigners have started to eye up a second court challenge.
Joining GB News, the Chagossian Trust’s Jean-Francois Nellan discussed the different avenues Chagossians could take to block the bill in the hope of squashing the deal for good.
On Friday night, Sir Keir was forced to withdraw his Chagos Island Bill after retaliation plagued Downing Street from across the Atlantic last week.
The move followed President Trump sending heads spinning in No10 by dubbing the deal “an act of great stupidity”, questioning the rationale behind the UK’s decision.
Mr Nellan said Chagossians could bring another legal challenge against the Government
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The legislation had been scheduled for debate in the House of Lords on Monday but the scrutiny of the controversial bill is no longer going ahead.
While he expressed relief at the postponement, Mr Nellan said the Chagossians had to think of action which could stop the deal in its tracks once and for all.
Consequently, he flirted with the idea of bringing forward another court challenge over concerns the bilateral agreement between the UK and Mauritius could violate Chagossians’ rights.
The threat has followed a report, published back in December, from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which issued a warning to the UK Government.
On GB News, the campaigner said if the UK fails to respect their rights, as outlined by the UN, the Chagossians could return to the international body’s recommendation.
He added: “We still have the case, which happened in October when the judge said they were going to give the ruling two weeks after the hearing, but now it’s come to nearly the end of January.
“We’re still waiting to hear it from from the High Court.
“But we still we are working with other authorities as well to bring the other case against the UK Government.”
The UN’s recommendation was “alarmed” Mauritius would lease Diego Garcia back to the UK for 99 years with the possibility of a 40-year extension.
The US leader has branded the UK’s Chagos deal ‘an act of great stupidity’ | GETTY
The Committee warned the deal “explicitly prevents the return of the Chagossian people to their ancestral lands in Diego Garcia Island”.
Additionally, the group stressed the deal could stop Chagossians “from exercising their cultural rights and preserving their cultural heritage”.
But the committee also flagged the deal excluded any meaningful participation of Chagossians, “affecting their rights and lands” and “restricting the exercise of their right to self-determination”.
Labour has particularly come under fire for allowing the deal to go ahead without the green light from the Chagossians, many of whom have long-campaigned for the British sovereignty over the territory.
Last week, GB News’ Camilla Tominey grilled Labour Minister Lisa Nandy after the Prime Minister claimed the fate of Greenland should be determined by the nation’s people.
However, the same train of thought has not applied to the Chagos Islands and its residents.
Nevertheless, campaigners have refused to accept the move from No10, persistently campaigning and speaking out against the agreement with a current court case from October chugging on.
Last year, three Chagossians asked for the go-ahead from the High Court to pursue a legal challenge against Labour for failures to “adequately and lawfully consult with the Chagossian people” on their interests.
The Chagossian first minister Louis Misley Mandarin told The Independent he remains hopeful for the outcome of the legal challenge, which will be published before the end of the month.
