The UK has revealed plans to relinquish control of a remote, strategically vital group of islands in the Indian Ocean after more than 50 years. Following lengthy negotiations, a historic agreement has been reached to transfer the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Britain stated that the operation of Diego Garcia, a key military base run in partnership with the United States, remains safeguarded under the current agreement. The agreement also grants Mauritius the right to resettle the remaining islands, following the displacement of its original inhabitants.
In a joint statement, the UK and Mauritian Prime Ministers announced the conclusion of decades of sometimes contentious negotiations between the two nations.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy said in a statement, “This government inherited a situation where the long-term, secure operation of the Diego Garcia military base was under threat, with contested sovereignty and ongoing legal challenges.
“Today’s agreement secures this vital military base for the future. It will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security, shut down any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK, as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius.”
According to the joint statement released by the United Kingdom and Mauritius on Thursday, Mauritius will now have the freedom to implement a resettlement program on the islands of the Chagos Archipelago, except for Diego Garcia.
The United Kingdom has committed to establishing a new trust fund and providing additional assistance to the Chagossians, who are currently estimated to be 10,000 individuals dispersed across Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the United Kingdom.
In 1965, the UK separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, which had been under British control since 1814 and gained independence three years later, to establish the British Indian Ocean Territory. By the early 1970s, around 1,500 inhabitants were forcibly removed to Mauritius and Seychelles to pave the way for a U.S. airbase on Diego Garcia, the largest island, which the UK had leased to the U.S. in 1966 in exchange for a $14 million discount on Polaris missiles. To sidestep international law, the UK categorized the Chagossians, whose ties to the islands date back to the late 1700s, as “transient workers.”
After a US cable was disclosed by WikiLeaks in 2010, former Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam initiated a legal battle to reclaim the territory. In the cable, a Foreign Office official referred to Chagossians who were advocating for a right of return as “Man Fridays.”
In 2019, Mauritius regained sovereignty after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion stating that the UK should relinquish control of the islands. The ICJ argued that the population had been unlawfully forcibly relocated in the 1970s to make way for the US airbase.
A subsequent UN resolution, which was ratified by 116 member states, granted the UK a six-month period to return the archipelago. However, the negotiations were halted due to concerns raised by members of the previous Conservative government, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that Mauritius might permit China to access the territory.
Critics argued that the UK’s disregard for the terms of the ICJ ruling undermined its international reputation and illustrated a disregard for the rules-based international order.
Frances Ibiefo
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