Maldives Asserts Sovereignty Over Chagos Islands, Rejects UK-Mauritius Deal

Sat Mar 28 2026 13:16:52 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In a formal statement, the Maldives has declared that it does not recognize the recent UK agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, reaffirming its historical claims over the territory.

The Maldives government has publicly opposed the UK's decision to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. President Mohamed Muizzu's administration is threatening legal action to uphold its claims, emphasizing historical ties to the islands. The UK Foreign Office maintains that sovereignty remains a matter for Britain and Mauritius, while ongoing diplomatic tensions highlight the complexity of the situation. International legal decisions have previously supported Mauritius's claim, complicating the Maldives' stance.

The president of the Maldives has formally told the UK that it does not recognise the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

President Mohamed Muizzu's office told the BBC the Maldives had expressed its opposition to the deeply concerning deal in two written objections and a phone call with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy.

The nation of tropical islands in the Indian Ocean is asserting sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and is threatening international legal action to press its claim.

UK Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty has said the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands is a matter for Britain and Mauritius, not the Maldives. A government source said international courts had already considered the question of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and found in favour of Mauritius.

The Chagos Islands - officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory - are located in the Indian Ocean and the UK has controlled them since the early 19th Century. Last year, the UK government agreed to transfer control of the territory to Mauritius, paying an average cost of £101m a year to lease a joint UK-US military base on the largest island.

Mauritius has long claimed the islands and has pursued international legal action. Labour ministers have argued that if a deal with Mauritius was not struck, the future of the military base would be threatened by international legal rulings. However, the deal has not yet been confirmed in UK law and appears to be indefinitely on hold, particularly after remarks by US President Donald Trump urging UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer not to relinquish the territory.

The Maldives opposes Mauritian control of the Chagos Islands, asserting its own historical claims stemming from centuries of proximity. In a detailed statement, Muizzu's administration outlined its diplomatic engagement with the UK and its stance against the transfer, arguing for significant Maldivian interests to be considered.

A ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2023 bolstered Mauritius's claims to the Chagos Islands, reinforcing an earlier advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled Britain's separation of the islands from Mauritius in 1965 was unlawful. The Maldivian government is now reviewing these legal judgments and is prepared to pursue all available avenues to affirm its claims.

Muizzu's statement urged the UK for a meaningful dialogue aimed at reconciliation, underscoring the significance of addressing historical context while navigating present geopolitical intricacies.