Nigel Farage has accused the British government of attempting to thwart a mission to get aid to a group of Chagossians on a deserted island.
The Reform UK leader flew to the Maldives last week with the intention of boarding an aid boat to Île du Coin, one of the Chagos Islands, where a four-strong ‘advance party’ is seeking to resettle their former homeland.
Vital supplies including food and medicine have been gathered to help the men, who hope to block the transfer of the Chagos Islands from Britain to Mauritius by establishing a permanent base.
But Mr Farage claims the UK government has been bending over backwards to prevent him boarding the boat and completing the 24-hour aid mission to the islands – which remain a British territory.
It is understood the vessel will now make the roughly 300-mile trip without Mr Farage, and that he will return to the UK on Saturday night.
Recording a video from the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, Mr Farage claimed the government had ‘search parties out trying to find me’, and said he does not understand Starmer’s ‘obsession with getting rid of the Chagos Islands’.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Mr Farage said this evening: ‘The British Government has made every effort to prevent me heading towards the Chagos Islands. They have asked the Maldives government to stop me from leaving here and setting foot on the boat. This was information conveyed to me by a senior figure in the Maldives government.
‘I cannot believe such an attempt has been made to stop a British citizen from reaching British territory. My source told me the British were ‘very concerned’ about me and wanted to know why I was here.’
Nigel Farage recording a video in the Maldives, from where he had hoped to join a mission to take aid to Chagossians attempting to resettle Île du Coin
Chagossian first minister Misley Mandarin (L) and his father (R) have been granted a temporary right to stay on Île du Coin after returning this week
Eviction papers demanded the group of four left the island, but a judge has since temporarily blocked the notice
The Foreign Office said this week it remains ‘illegal and unsafe to enter the outer Chagos Islands without a valid permit’.
The UK government has drawn up a controversial plan to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, almost 60 years after islanders were forcibly removed to make way for a British-America military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
The islands are currently owned by Britain, and under the terms the UK would lease back Diego Garcia in order to maintain the military base.
Over the course of a century, the deal would cost the UK around £35billion – which also includes funding for development in Mauritius.
Given America’s stake in the base, backing from the White House is seen as essential to getting the deal over the line, but President Trump’s flipflopping position appears to have settled firmly against it.
Last week, he urged Starmer not to ‘give away Diego Garcia’, and previously branded it an ‘act of great stupidity’.
Between making those comments, however, the President said he understood the deal was ‘the best he [Starmer] could make, so his true feelings are somewhat difficult to assess.
There is also potent opposition from Chagossians themselves, some of whom have vowed they would ‘rather die’ than accept transfer to Mauritius.
Among the opponents are the Chagossian First Minister Misley Mandarin and three other islanders, who landed on the deserted Île du Coin and declared they were resettling there.
Donald Trump has urged Keir Starmer not to ‘give away Diego Garcia’, though his position on the deal has proven erratic
Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised for attempting to stop native Chagossians resettling, and urged to the let the US use Diego Garcia to stage an attack on Iran
They have been living in tents since landing on Monday, and said they expected more arrivals imminently – with the hope that a permanent settlement would complicate the plan to transfer the islands to Mauritius.
Mr Mandarin’s father, 74-year-old Michel Mandarin, was removed from the island when he was 14, and is among the foursome to have returned.
The advance party was served with eviction papers from the UK government on Wednesday, delivered by a British patrol boat.
They were told they if they did not leave the island, they faced a three-year prison sentence or £3000 fine.
However, the legislative attempt to turf them out was halted by a judge on Thursday.
Justice James Lewis, handing down his ruling from a flight 25,000ft in the air, issued a temporary block on the eviction notice.
Mr Lewis, who is the chief justice of the British Indian Ocean territory, said: ‘It follows that I grant a temporary injunction against the enforcement of section 12 notices.
‘This injunction will remain in place for seven days to allow the defendants to file a response.’
The joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, which is strategically located near to the Middle East
The largest of the Chagos islands, Diego Garcia (pictured),would be leased back from Mauritius under the Chagos deal
Misley Mandarin, right, and his father as they arrived on the archipelago in defiance of the British government’s exclusion zone this week
In a ‘Declaration of Returning’, the group on Île du Coin said: ‘We, the people of the Chagos Islands, stand today on the soil of our homeland.
‘We are the advance party. Hundreds more are following. We have come home.’
In response to being handed the eviction papers, Mr Mandarin said: ‘This is really appalling, we have been exiled from our homeland for more than half a century.
‘Now, having this vessel service me this order that if I do not leave the island I might have to be in prison for three years or pay a hefty fine.
‘I am very angry about it’.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said Labour is ‘doing Mauritius’s bidding’ by ‘threatening Chagossians with prison sentences or crippling fines for landing on the Islands’.
Some have suggested that Labour’s attempt to evict the islanders are unlawful.
James Tumbridge, who is the acting attorney general for the Chagos government under Mr Mandarin, said: ‘This injunction gives a proper chance to understand when a deportation is appropriate.
‘My clients are native Chagossians seeking to return peacefully to their homeland. We welcome the clarity and fairness reflected in today’s decision.’
The resettlement project was condemned by the Foreign Office, which described it as an ‘illegal, unsafe stunt’.
Starmer has also been criticised for refusing to let Donald Trump use British bases, including Diego Garcia, to stage attacks on Iran.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a retired Royal Navy officer, said: ‘At a time when our US ally needs to be reassured of Britain’s staunch opposition to brutal regimes and about its access to the Chagos Islands and [UK-US military base] Diego Garcia, our Government is proving unreliable and weak.’
This week, the Daily Mail revealed that a ‘great friend’ of Keir Starmer pocketed a share of an £8million pot for his work on the Chagos deal.
Phillippe Sands KC acted as chief legal council to Mauritius between 2010 and 2024, and led a group of legal teams that were allocated the cash from the Mauritian state budget.
Asked how much he was paid, Sands told a House of Lords Committee he ‘did not know’ but admitted he was ‘remunerated, as I am for almost all my cases. It was not done pro bono’.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said this week: ‘It remains both illegal and unsafe to enter the outer Chagos Islands without a valid permit.
‘The UK Government recognises the importance of the islands to the Chagossian community and is working with Mauritius to resume a programme of heritage visits to the Chagos Archipelago.
‘This kind of illegal, unsafe action is not the way to achieve that.
‘The vessel does not pose any security risk to Diego Garcia.’
The Foreign Office was approached for further comment in the wake of Mr Farage’s accusations.
