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Government must explain “inoperable within weeks” claim on Diego Garcia, says FOTBOT

Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT) is calling on the Government to urgently clarify the legal basis used to justify the Chagos Islands agreement, which MPs relied on to vote for the deal.

NEWS FROM FOTBOTBRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY

2/15/20262 min read

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 February 2026

Government must explain “inoperable within weeks” claim on Diego Garcia, says FOTBOT

Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT) is calling on the Government to urgently clarify the legal basis used to justify the Chagos Islands agreement, which MPs relied on to vote for the deal.

On 22 May 2025, the Defence Secretary told Parliament that Diego Garcia would become “inoperable within weeks” due to an impending ruling confirmed to arise from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

On 4 February 2026, the Foreign Office confirmed to US counterparts that proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea were the specific legal concern driving urgency.

Yet on 12 February 2026, the FCDO confirmed via written parliamentary question that the United Kingdom’s formal declarations under Article 298 of UNCLOS, lodged in 2003 and reaffirmed in 2020, set out clear limitations on compulsory jurisdiction, including in relation to military activities.

ITLOS does not determine sovereignty over land territory. This was made clear in the 2015 arbitration in Mauritius v United Kingdom, where the tribunal held it had no jurisdiction to decide sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. Diego Garcia is a joint UK-US military base.

If Article 298 was in force, and UNCLOS tribunals cannot determine sovereignty in any event, FOTBOT is seeking urgent clarification as to how any ruling could have rendered the base “inoperable within weeks” or left it exposed to a binding legal claim.

James Lunn, Chief Executive at Friends of the British Overseas Territories, said:

“Ministers told Parliament that they had no choice but to act because an imminent international ruling would render Diego Garcia inoperable within weeks. We now have written confirmation of the UK’s formal declarations under Article 298 of UNCLOS, which make clear that certain disputes, including those involving military activities, are not subject to compulsory rulings, along with established precedent showing that these tribunals do not decide questions of sovereignty in any event.

If that is correct, the legal foundation presented to Parliament collapses. The central justification for entering into these negotiations at speed was that the base was under immediate legal threat. If no such threat legally existed, then the Government’s stated reason for engaging in the deal at all is fundamentally undermined. Parliament, and the Chagossian community, deserve a full and candid explanation.

The Diego Garcia base was never under threat”.

FOTBOT is calling for the publication of the legal advice underpinning the Government’s position, a full statement to Parliament clarifying the basis of the urgency claims, and the immediate withdrawal of the Bill.

ENDS

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