The United Kingdom announced this Thursday that it will cede sovereignty to Mauritius over a group of remote but strategically important islands in the Indian Ocean after more than half a century.
This is Chagos, an archipelago of 60 square kilometers that has more than 50 islands.
These include the tropical atoll of Diego García, used by the United States government as a military base for its warships and long-range bomber aircraft.
The announcement of the transfer of sovereignty over this territory, made in a joint statement by the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Mauritius, puts an end to decades of often conflictive negotiations between the two countries.
The US-British base will remain in Diego Garcíaa key point that allows the agreement to move forward at a time of growing geopolitical rivalries between Western countries, India and China.
The agreement is still subject to the completion of a treaty, but both sides have promised to complete it as soon as possible.
“This is a defining moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Mauritian counterpart, Pravind Jugnauth, in the joint statement.
They also noted that they are committed “to ensuring the safe, effective and long-term operation of the existing base in Diego García, which plays a vital role in regional and global security.”
The treaty will also “address past mistakes and demonstrate the commitment of both sides to supporting the well-being of Chagossians.”
As part of the agreement, the UK will provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, including annual payments and investment in infrastructure, and Mauritius will be able to start a resettlement program on the Chagos Islands, but not in Diego García.
There, the United Kingdom will guarantee the operation of the military base for “an initial period” of 99 years.
The president of the USA, Joe Bidenwelcomed the “historic agreement,” saying it was a “clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to achieve peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes.”
He added that the maintenance of the military base “plays a vital role in national security.” [estadounidense]regional and global.”
Expulsion of the Chagossians
The origin of the dispute dates back to 1965, three years before the United Kingdom granted independence to Mauritius.
It was then that the British government decided to separate the Chagos Islands from its colony in the Indian Ocean and give them a different destiny.
The more than 1,500 local inhabitants were deported from the archipelago so that the largest of the islands, Diego García, could be leased until 2036 to the United States for a military base.
Diego Garcia was one of the sites used by Washington in the controversial CIA program of secret flights and clandestine transportation of prisoners known in English as “surrender“.
The scandal of these flights broke out in 2006, when it was learned that the United States maintained secret prisons abroad and illegally transferred “terrorism” suspects to centers in third countries known for using torture methods.
The use of Diego García in the CIA’s secret flights program may have contributed to making the British position less sympathetic, according to analysts.
The Diego García base has also been used by the US in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United Kingdom never allowed the local population to return to their homes.
The Chagossians descend from slaves from Africa and India who were brought to the islands by French colonizers in the mid-18th century.to work in coconut plantations.
Over time they developed their own culture and dialect, known as Chagossian Creole.
British Indian Ocean Territory
In recent years, the United Kingdom had faced increasing diplomatic isolation over its claim to what it calls British Indian Ocean Territorywith several United Nations bodies overwhelmingly siding with Mauritius and demanding that London hand over what some have called its “last colony in Africa.”
The Mauritian government has argued for decades that it was illegally forced to hand over the Chagos Islands in exchange for its own independence from Britain in 1968.
At that time, the British government had already negotiated a secret agreement with the US to lease the largest atoll and use it as a military base.
Britain later apologized for forcibly expelling the islanders and promised to hand over the islands to Mauritius. when they were no longer necessary for strategic purposes.
But until very recently, the UK insisted that Mauritius had no legitimate claim to the islands.
A change in international opinion
For decades, the small island nation of Mauritius struggled to gain serious international support on this issue.
But recently the opinion of the international community began to change.
The african nations They began to speak with one voice on the issue, putting pressure on the United Kingdom to decolonization.
Then, Brexit – the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU – left many European nations reluctant to continue supporting London’s position in international forums.
The Mauritian government then went on the attack and accused the British government of verbal threats.
And the Mauritians began to wage an increasingly sophisticated campaign (at the UN, in the courts and in the media), even going so far as to plant your flag in the archipelago without British authorization.
Questions to the agreement
Among Chagossians, opinions are divided.
Isabelle Charlot told the BBC that The agreement gave him hope that his family could return to the “roots” of his father’s island.
But Frankie Bontemps, a second-generation Chagossian living in the UK, told the BBC he felt “betrayed” and “angry” by the news because “Chagossians have never been involved” in the negotiations.
“We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland”he said, and called for the full inclusion of the Chagossians in the drafting of the treaty.
International human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the agreement “will address grievances committed against Chagossians in the past, but it appears that crimes will continue long into the future.”
“It does not guarantee that the Chagossians will return to their homeland, it appears to explicitly prohibit them from returning to the largest island, Diego Garcia, for another century, and it makes no mention of the reparations that are owed to all to rebuild their future,” said Clive Baldwin, an advisor HRW’s chief legal officer, in a statement.
There must be meaningful consultation with the Chagossians, Baldwin said, or the UK, US and now Mauritius will be responsible for “a colonial crime that still continues”.
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- Chagos, the islands that the United Kingdom did not return to Mauritius despite the expiration of the deadline established by the UN
- Chagos, the islands at the center of a tenacious dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius in which the British suffered a strong diplomatic setback