Farage Claims UK Gov’t Blocked Him from Travelling to Strategic Chagos Islands

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused the left-wing UK government of blocking him from travelling to the Chagos Islands amid ongoing controversy surrounding the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Earlier this week a small cohort of Chagossians embarked on an attempt to resettle on the archipelago’s atolls in a bid to scupper the 2025 deal in which London agreed to hand over control of the territory to the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius.

In stark contrast to the open borders approach to illegal migrants landing in Britain, the four Chagos Islanders, who landed on the territory on Monday after sailing from Sri Lanka, were given eviction notices by UK authorities warning of potential jail time if they refuse to vacate.

Currently, under British International Overseas Territory law, all those seeking to enter the territory require a permit from the UK government to do so, whether they be Chagossian or British.

As a leading opponent of the deal to cede British sovereignty, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sought to travel to the settlement to deliver food and medical supplies to the Chagossians. However, he claimed on Saturday evening that the Labour government in London had pulled strings to block his travel.

“The British government has made every effort to prevent me heading towards the Chagos Islands. They have asked the Maldives government to stop me from leaving here and setting foot on the boat. This was information conveyed to me by a senior figure in the Maldives government,” he told The Telegraph.

“I cannot believe such an attempt has been made to stop a British citizen from reaching British territory. My source told me the British were ‘very concerned’ about me and wanted to know why I was here. This trip is a humanitarian mission and I don’t want my presence to jeopardise that.”

A Foreign Office spokesman told GB News: “Our primary concern at this point is to ensure the safe departure of a group of individuals from an island that is not fit for human habitation, and on which any health emergencies or extreme weather could pose a serious threat to life.”

While the British have controlled the Chagos Islands for over 200 years, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer agreed in 2024 to hand over the territory to the nearby nation of Mauritius to comply with a ruling from the International Court of Justice at the United Nations.

Under the terms of the deal, the UK also agreed to pay Mauritius an average of £101 million per year for 99 years to lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, in order to retain control of the critical UK-U.S. military base.

Many Chagossians, who were evicted by the British from the islands in the 1960s to clear space to construct a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, have opposed the move by the UK to hand over control to Mauritius, as it would likely prevent them from ever returning to the land and regaining their own sovereignty.

Although President Donald Trump initially approved of the deal, he has since branded the move as a “blight” on Britain and criticised Prime Minister Starmer for abiding by the “wokeism” of globalist institutions such as the UN court.

Concerns have been raised that the deal between the UK and Mauritius could give the island nation veto power over Washington using Diego Garcia as a launching pad for international strikes. Should the U.S. ignore Mauritius and launch a strike from the territory, it could potentially give it the legal standing to claim that the treaty has been violated and thus enable them to renege on the lease and take full control of Diego Garcia.

There have also been concerns raised over the possibility of Mauritius allowing other countries to use other areas of the Chagos Islands for power projection, particularly Communist China, which has become a key ally of the leftist government in Port Louis.