A court has overturned a ban on people living on the outer Chagos Islands.
In February, nine people, including four Chagossians, landed on Ile Du Coin, an uninhabited outer island which is 135 south of Diego Garcia.
They were ordered to leave, and four members of the group took legal action against the commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
It was argued that a 2004 law removing the right of Chagossians to enter and remain on the outer islands was unlawful.
In a ruling on Tuesday, the BIOT Supreme Court quashed the rule and the commissioner’s order for the Chagossians to leave.
The UK has agreed to hand sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, and lease back a joined UK-US military base on Diego Garcia for 99 years.
US President Donald Trump was critical of the deal in February, describing it as an “act of great stupidity” and a “big mistake”.
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James Lewis KC, the chief justice of the BIOT, said on Tuesday: “Any rational reason for passing the provision has now disappeared, if there ever was one.”
The Chagossians had initially claimed they were seeking to visit Ile Du Coin temporarily to visit graves, and did not mention they planned to establish a “permanent camp”, the judge said.
He continued: “A claimed power to exclude a whole population must be justified by legal source, not administrative necessity.”
The judge also said that the deal signed between the UK and Mauritius “removes any claimed reliance on defence or security issues in repopulating the outer islands, as well as rendering funding issues otiose [serving no practical purpose]”.
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The commissioner is challenging the decision, according to the Foreign Office.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We do not agree with this judgment, and we understand the BIOT administration have appealed it.”
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have accused Sir Keir Starmer of treating Chagossians as “an inconvenience”.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has called on the prime minister to abandon what she described as an “appalling” deal to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which she said was a “complete betrayal”.
Ms Patel said: “Throughout the process, he has sought to sideline the Chagossian people, treating them as nothing but an inconvenience.
“Chagossians, many of whom have no desire to see the islands handed over to an ally of China, ended up taking matters into their own hands. And now this latest humiliation has further undermined the Government’s case.”
