Chagos Islanders Told by Court They Can Stay in Blow to Starmer
The Chagos islanders who returned to their ancestral homeland have had their eviction notices quashed in a blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s handover deal. The Telegraph has more.
Misley Mandarin, the Chagossian “First Minister”, and three other islanders who travelled to the archipelago will be able to stay on Île du Coin for the time being, a court has said.
The court said the eviction orders, served by the Foreign Office, needed to be revised and take into account the Chagossians’ “heritage rights”.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) administration has appealed the decision.
Campaigners hailed the judgment as a victory for the Chagossian people and a blow to Sir Keir’s controversial deal to hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius.
In particular, they pointed to the court’s decision that legislation dating back to 2004 declaring that “no person has the right of abode in the territory” was unlawful.
Last month, Mandarin made an undercover boat journey to the Chagos Islands with a small group of islanders to establish a settlement on the archipelago.
But they were soon served with removal orders, also known as Section 12 notices, which told them they faced a three-year prison sentence or a £3,000 fine if they refused to leave.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Mandarin and the other Chagossians lodged an appeal within hours of the orders being issued.
Tuesday’s judgment said that the Section 12 removal notices “are quashed and need to be redetermined in the light of a fair procedure which includes the claimants’ representations”.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Court said that the Chagos islanders had entered the territory illegally and without a permit.
It said: “Nothing in this decision creates a right for the claimants to set up a permanent camp on the Île du Coin without the necessary permits.”
However, the judgment added: “Any future decisions of the defendant in relation to the grant of permits need to take into account all the circumstances including heritage rights and the right of abode of any Chagossian entitled to them.”
Worth reading in full.
In the Spectator, Swansea Law Professor Andrew Tettenborn says “the Chagos deal is unravelling”. Let’s hope so.
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How can a British National enter British territory illegally? No wonder the court threw it out.
Well when a non-British anything can enter British territory at will and acquire Rights which trump ethnic British Rights, then up is down, right is left, black is white, wrong is right, right is wrong, illegal is legal, legal is illegal, and the World is upon its head – and no mistake Mister ‘udson.
Fantastic news— at last that rare thing: a sensible judge! It does the heart good to see photos of the defiant Chagossian First Minister and his dad, along with two other stalwarts, waving their flag on their island. And to give credit where it is due, we should not forget former British Army Captain and Member of Parliament Adam Holloway: “Adam Holloway, an ex-British Army officer who served as a Captain in the Grenadier Guards, sailed through a British-imposed exclusion zone to land on Ile du Coin on Monday, alongside a group of Chagos Islanders determined to establish a settlement there.” “Mr Holloway personally helped the four-man group raise funds for the mission and worked on mapping the route they would take.” “He remains on the island and intends to stay to help build a settlement intended to allow 322 people born there to return before they die. He said: “We’ve done this because Britain is about to make a catastrophically stupid mistake. We are now in a world of great power play. The base at Diego Garcia is absolutely critical to the security of the West.” “ Ex-MP leads Chagos beach landing blasting Starmer’s deal – ‘crazy!’ | Politics |… Read more »
Between Starmer, Reeves, and Miliband there’s a lot of deliberate destruction of our country going on. Would we be better off with the Clown Wing of the Labour Party in charge (Lammy, Rayner)? Or is it better to keep the Starmer rabbit in the headlights pro tem?
None of the above, they are all a total shower of sh!te.
Well, yes, but short of dissolution of Parliament, we’re stuck with one or the other for the next three years…
Quibble: shite has its uses.
To some extent it won’t matter who is nominally in charge because they are all working for people / organisations other than the indigenous British electorate. We are being run by traitors and all constituents of the Uniparty are members. Regardless of whose holding the offices of state the destruction of this country will continue because that is the playbook they have been given.
Way back when I first started posting here on DS I stated that the destruction of this country was the goal and I have never had reason since to change that viewpoint.
Starmer is juggling a pile of chaos to keep Labour in power, whereas The Clowns might tip that over the edge and bring about an uprising or a GE, thereby removing Labour [for ever, I reckon]
The US and Israel have taken out the entire Iranian ruling class – I have a call in to Bibi and The Donald.
It is good to hear this wonderful news. Let us hope this is a lasting victory for the “little” who have proved themselves to be bigger men than all the politicians and their small minds.
If my schoolboy French is remembered, doesn’t that translate as “Quack Island”?
Priceless! When human rights lawyers get hung up on human rights… 😏
Wouldn’t it be marvellous if we had a Human Rites Prime Minister who stood up for the rights of indigenous people 🙂