Overview

• Chagossian campaigners filed an Article 15 referral asking the International Criminal Court to review Keir Starmer, David Lammy and John Healey over the Chagos agreement.
• The referral alleges continued deportation or forcible transfer and persecution by denying displaced islanders a return to Diego Garcia.
• Bertrice Pompe, a Chagossian born on Diego Garcia who earlier won and then lost a brief High Court injunction against the treaty, is leading the referral.
• The ICC must now determine whether to begin a preliminary investigation, following the campaigners’ open letter to prosecutor Karim Khan.
• The May 2025 deal transferred sovereignty to Mauritius while keeping the UK–US base on Diego Garcia under a 99‑year lease, which the UK government defends as necessary to avoid litigation, as campaigners also pursue complaints to UN rights bodies and report deteriorating conditions.