British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing a “crimes against humanity” complaint at the United Nations over the treatment of the Chagossian people as tensions rise following an Iranian missile attempt targeting Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer, who is named in the filling, has been specifically reported on the removal of four people who returned to the island in a complaint filed by the Attorney General of the Chagossian government.
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A U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, stops to refuel at the U.S. military base at Diego Garcia in October 2001 after an airstrike over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin/U.S. Department of Defense)
On March 20, Iran launched two ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia from a range of more than 3,700 kilometers, missing the target but underscoring the strategic importance of the base.
Chagossian leaders have since backed a continued US presence, with Prime Minister Misley Mandarin saying they want to “uphold the 1966 agreement and view the US as a brother in arms for global security.”
The 1966 agreement allowed the US to use Diego Garcia for defense purposes, initially for 50 years.
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Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and the site of a major United States military base in the center of the Indian Ocean, which was leased from Britain in 1966. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Tumbridge’s UN submission claims British actions risk the “forced depopulation” of the Chagos Islands.
The expulsions began in 1968, when about 2,000 residents were removed, culminating in 1973, and in February Britain issued new removal orders to four Chagossians who had returned to the islands.
The filing calls the situation “forced displacement,” which could constitute a “crime against humanity through forced depopulation of an area.”
It warns the British government of a ‘new crime now’ that could complete a decades-long extermination of the indigenous population, stating: ‘The removal of these four individuals would result in the total physical extermination of the Chagossian people’, possibly ‘amounting to ethnic cleansing’.
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President Trump warned he will use force if a lease agreement with Mauritius over Diego Garcia “falls apart” or if anyone threatens U.S. operations. (Getty Images)
“The BIOT commissioner accepted that the Chagossians had been wronged in the past,” Tumbridge said on Wednesday.
“How can the British Prime Minister, who claims to value the rule of law and human rights, not want to right this wrong and allow people to return to their islands?”
The filing also comes at a time when Britain is considering transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
This followed a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, while retaining Diego Garcia’s base under a 99-year lease.
President Donald Trump criticized the proposed transfer, and the United Kingdom has since suspended legislation to formalize the deal, with ministers saying it has become “impossible to reach an agreement at a political level.”
The legislation was expected to be included in the King’s speech, which set out the agenda of the next parliamentary session.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer takes part in a panel discussion with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS)
“Legal proceedings are ongoing in the BIOT courts. Several British and international courts have found that there is no right of residence in the Archipelago,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Responding to the statement, Tumbridge claimed Starmer’s government was “misleading” the people and warned there was a “serious fight” on the horizon.
“Unfortunately the British government is misleading people. No court has ever ruled ‘that there is no right of abode in the Archipelago.’ Tony Blair’s government took away the right of abode and attempts to overturn that law in court failed until the BIOT High Court ruled on March 31 and struck down the law,” he said.
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“The Secretary of State has since requested to intervene in the case. We are going to the Court of Appeal and clearly a serious battle remains,” Tumbridge added.
