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EXCLUSIVE: Keir Starmer has decided to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - but a new legal challenge says they might not be his to give to anyone.
Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer’s controversial decision to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been presented by many in London as a long-overdue act of decolonisation. But thousands of miles away in the Indian Ocean, another country says Britain is handing the islands to the wrong claimant.
In an exclusive interview for Express.co.uk President Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives has confirmed that his government has contacted its British counterpart over the future of the Chagos Islands, known historically in the Maldives as Foalhavahi. The Maldives, he argues, is geographically closer, more historically connected, and legally better placed than Mauritius to assert sovereignty. If the Maldivian bid succeeds, it could derail the UK–Mauritius treaty signed in May 2025 - but spare British taxpayers a bill estimated at £35 billion, with some projections running as high as £80 billion.
At the heart of the issue is Diego Garcia, the strategically vital airbase that underpins UK–US defence across the Indo-Pacific, serving as a bulwark to an increasingly aggressive China. Under the new plan agreed between Britain and Mauritius, Chagos would be handed to Mauritius, with the UK and US retaining control of the Diego Garcia military base through a lease of 99 years, paying Mauritius around £100 million each year in rent for land that Britain currently owns.
For Muizzu, however, the dispute is not about geopolitics alone — it is about historical accuracy, fairness, and Britain’s willingness to listen to a long-standing partner.
President Mohamed Muizzu told Express.co.uk: “Through an exchange of official correspondence the British Government is fully aware of our concerns and our claim. The Maldives has historical connections to the Chagos Islands – known to us as Foalhavahi - which lie south of Maldivian waters. These connections are based on documental evidence, and we believe gives the Maldives a greater claim than any other country.
“Currently we have raised our claim and our concerns with the British government in official correspondence. I cannot disclose the content of these discussions, except to reiterate our confidence that the Maldives has the strongest claim over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.”
The island of Mauritius and its capital Port Louis lies about 1,300 miles from the Chagos Islands. By comparison Male, the capital of the Maldives, is just 310 miles from the Chagos Islands.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu meets David Lammy (Image: Maldives Govt)
The historic and cultural links between the Maldives and Chagos are widely documented. Gravestones found etched with words in Dhivehi – the Maldives’ official language, provide one of the many pieces of evidence of long-standing economic and population ties.
Unlike Mauritius which was uninhabited before the 17th century when Dutch, French, and later British colonialists brought people from Europe and Africa to populate the island, the Maldives has been populated for over 2,500 years. The Maldivian gravestones on Chagos are over 900 years old – before Mauritius had its colonial inhabitants - while centuries-old Maldivian folk tales tell of seafarers and fishermen being stranded there. A 16th century patent from a Maldivian King even states his kingdom’s sovereignty over Chagos – dating from more than 100 years before Mauritius had a human population. Alongside carbon-dated archaeological evidence, the DNA of modern-day Chagossians – citizens of Chagos who were forcibly removed by the British government in the 1970s to make way for the UK-US military base – demonstrates they have Maldivian and Creole heritage.
Despite the disagreement over Keir Starmer’s Chagos deal, President Muizzu says relations remain very strong and that few countries have closer people-to-people ties with Britain than the Maldives, a destination routinely cited as Britons’ number one dream holiday destination.
Gravestones in Maldives up to 900 years old - Britain did not colonise Mauritius until 1810 (Image: Getty)
Map shows the Maldives much close to the Britisn Indian Ocean Territory than Mauritius (Image: GOOGLE MAPS)
The President said: “The Maldives has been Britain’s favourite dream holiday from the very beginning”.
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“British tourists helped make the Maldives. Britons were the first visitors in large numbers, British architects, engineers and hoteliers were among our earliest advisers, and British hospitality standards are those we adopted.”
That relationship remains strong. British visitors consistently rank in the top three nationalities arriving each year, drawn by what Muizzu describes without hesitation as “the most crystal-clear waters and most perfect beaches with the whitest sands on earth.”
English (US) · 