The Maldives government has rejected claims that it is facing pressure from the UK to block UK Reform Party Leader and MP Nigel Farage's trip to Chagos.
Farage recently arrived in Maldives with supplies intended for four Chagossians seeking to set up a permanent base on a deserted island in the country. He was working to dispatch a boat with food and medicine to this island which is roughly 300 miles south of the Maldives.
In a video interview with The Telegraph, Farage claimed that a senior Maldivian government official had informed him that the UK government had requested Maldives to step in to obstruct his trip to the Chagos.
He alleged that the UK government is doing all possible to prevent him from boarding the boat headed to Chagos. He stated that it is unacceptable for such obstruction to be caused to a Member of Parliament seeking to make such a trip.
The Telegraph reported that Farage will not be travelling on the boat headed to Chagos.
A Maldivian government official stated today that the government has taken no steps to obstruct in any way MP Farage's journey to Chagos.
About 2,000 people were forcibly displaced from the archipelago in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for the Diego Garcia military base. While the UK currently controls the islands, it agreed last year to cede ownership to Mauritius.
As per the deal, the UK will lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years. Diego Garcia, Chagos' largest island, is used as a joint military base by the UK and USA.
