David Lammy: « The Government does not normally reveal payments for our military bases overseas. And so it would be inappropriate to publicise further details of these arrangements at this stage »
L’opposition au Chagos Deal, excluant la base militaire de Diego-Garcia, se fait de plus en plus virulente au Royaume-Uni. Le Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, qui a été Heckled lors de son Statement à la Chambre des Communes, hier, sur cet accord bilatéral entre Port-Louis maintient que « the Chagos deal saves important UK-US military base » et que le « status quo was not sustainable as Tory MPs accuse Labour of giving away key asset. »
D’entrée de jeu, le Foreign Secretary a fait comprendre que cet accord, portant sur la souveraineté de l’archipel des Chagos, intervient « after two years of negotiations, and decades of disagreement. » Mais tout de suite, il s’est empressé de souligner que « the treaty is neither signed nor ratified. » Il est d’avis que dans la conjoncture « the status quo was clearly not sustainable. A binding judgement against the UK seemed inevitable. It was just a matter of time before our only choices would have been abandoning the base altogether. Or breaking international law. »
David Lammy, qui fait état que « this Government inherited unfinished business », se demande que « if you oppose the deal, which of these alternatives do you prefer ? » Il fait comprendre que « doing this deal – on our terms – was the sole way to maintain the full and effective operations of the base into the future. » À ce stade de son Statement, il est revenu sur les différentes étapes, dont « eleven rounds of negotiations, the last one held just weeks before the General Election was called. »
Le Foreign Secretary, passant en revue la situation de vive tension sur le plan international, tente de convaincre la Chambre des Communes que « where a threat was real, and inaction was not a strategy. Inaction posed several acute risks to the UK. First, it threatened the UK-US base. From countering malign Iranian activity in the Middle East to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, it is critical for our national security. Without surety of tenure, no base can operate effectively – nor truly deter our enemies. »
Devant la pression des Américains pour dissiper des incertitudes autour de la base militaire de Diego-Garcia, Londres affirme que « further legal wrangling served nobody’s interests but our adversaries. In a more volatile world,……a deal benefited us all, the UK, US and Mauritius. This Government therefore made striking the best possible deal a priority. » Ainsi, David Lammy a justifié la séquence des événements avec la nomination de Jonathan Powell pour conclure ces négociations anglo-mauriciennes.
Commentant les termes de l’accord, le Foreign Secretary fera ressortir que « in return for agreeing to Mauritian sovereignty over the entire islands, including Diego Garcia, the UK-US base has an uncontested long-term future. Base operations will remain under full UK control well into the next century. Mauritius will authorise us to exercise their sovereign rights and authorities in respect of Diego Garcia. This is initially for 99 years, but the UK has the right to extend this. And we have full Mauritian backing for robust security arrangements including preventing foreign armed forces from accessing or establishing themselves on the outer islands. »
Le Royaume-Uni a refusé de révéler les détails du Financial Package, mentionné dans l’accord. « this agreement will be underpinned by a financial settlement that is acceptable to both sides. Members will be aware the Government does not normally reveal payments for our military bases overseas. And so it would be inappropriate to publicise further details of these arrangements at this stage. »
Au sujet du sort des Chagossiens, le Foreign Secretary indique que « Mauritius is now free to implement a resettlement programme to islands other than Diego Garcia. The UK and Mauritius have also committed to support Chagossians’ welfare, establishing a new Trust Fund capitalised by the UK and providing additional Government support to Chagossians in the UK. And the UK will maintain the pathway for Chagossians to obtain British Citizenship. »
Londres annonce également un nouveau programme de visites dans l’archipel en disant que “this agreement also ushers in a new era in our relations with Mauritius. » Dans sa conclusion David Lammy confirme qu’ « after Mauritian elections, the Government will move towards treaty signature. And it is then our intention to pursue ratification in 2025, by submitting the Treaty and a Bill to this House for scrutiny. »