PARLIAMENT has been misled by the government on the legal reasons why the Chagos Islands have to be handed over to Mauritius, according to Shadow Home Office Minister Alicia Kearns.
She told GB News: “If you want to look at who consistently has stopped the bill from proceeding once again this week, it is us. It is the Conservatives who revealed that the entire legal basis on which the Labour Party has said that we only have weeks left which Diego Garcia can operate, was not true.
“We have revealed that they have probably misled Parliament. We now know through our written questions that they are using UNCLOS, which is essentially the International Law of the Sea, as the basis on why we need to see the base fall under Mauritian control.
“But actually there is an article 298 which explicitly says that military bases do not fall under the jurisdiction of any litigation around UNCLOS. So the entire basis in which the government has said to us we need to move quickly, we have to do this and we have to surrender, is now not true.
“And also with Donald Trump, who was in the US over the last week, Iain Duncan Smith, who has been talking to congressmen and members of the Senate. I have been for years. I’ve been having these conversations with them.
“So we continue to do the hard work of opposition, and I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to reveal just this week that I’m afraid the government has not only misled parliament, but misled the British people and potentially its allies as well.”
On the eviction notice served on Chagossians who returned to the islands this week, she said: “So over the last few years, I’ve been meeting with Chagossians on multiple occasions, and I’ve met indeed, with some of the ones who are there on the islands. Now there is no tension.
“There is no reason why Chagossians should not be able to return to…essentially, their homeland. Obviously, Diego Garcia needs to remain a military base, but the rest of the islands they could return to.
“We can’t condone what is currently criminal activity in British law, but of course we understand why they feel they’ve had to do this. Because David Lammy didn’t meet the Chagossians once when he was Foreign Secretary negotiating this. Stephen Doughty, the minister responsible, didn’t meet with them until after the deal was signed.
“They are so frustrated. Essentially, the Labour Party is repeating all the crimes committed against them back in the 60s when they were thrown off the islands again today by ignoring them and dismissing their voices.
“So it’s not a surprise, they felt they had to take extreme action, but we do want to make sure that they are protected. And yes, in my view, the Chagossian people should be allowed to return home. It is not at odds with the continued functioning of the military base.”
