Why is the UK handing back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius?

(Al Jazeera Media Network) After a dispute running for more than 50 years, the United Kingdom will finally hand back the Chagos Islands, an archipelago located in the Indian Ocean, to the southeast African island country of Mauritius.

As part of an agreement on Thursday, the governments of the UK and Mauritius jointly announced that full sovereignty of the Chagos, a remote group of more than 60 islands, would again belong to Mauritius in exchange for guarantees that a United States military base could continue operating there for the next 99 years.

The announcement has prompted mixed feelings among Chagossians who were exiled from the archipelago to Mauritius, the Seychelles and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, and have for years fought to return to their ancestral homeland without any conditions attached.

While many acknowledge this is a crucial step towards asserting the rights of Chagossians, some also point out that they were not included in the negotiations between the two governments.

Here’s what you need to know about the new deal, and why there’s been much controversy over the Chagos:

Mauritius will now control the Chagos, taking over sovereignty from the UK, its former colonial ruler of 1815 to 1968.

According to the terms of the deal, Mauritius is “free” to legally resettle the islands of the Chagos, excluding Diego Garcia, the largest and most southerly island, home to a US military base, and the only one that has remained inhabited since the 1970s. The archipelago is otherwise empty, with no inhabitants.

The UK leased Diego Garcia to the US in 1966 for 50 years. In return, the US provided a $14-million discount on sales of its Polaris missile systems to the UK. The Polaris system consisted of nuclear-armed, submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Diego Garcia has housed a US military base since then. Some 2,500 members of staff on the base come from the US, Mauritius and other countries.

On Thursday, the UK also pledged to provide a financial support package to Mauritius to support its economy. The value of this financial support was not disclosed.

In addition, the UK will also set up a trust fund to support the descendants of the 1,500 Chagossians who were forcefully evicted from the islands between the 1960s and 1970s. There are now about 10,000 Chagossians scattered in Mauritius, the Seychelles and the UK. Many complain of ill-treatment and low salaries in their adopted countries.

Mauritius and the UK will collaborate on projects in environmental protection, maritime security and crime prevention, including tackling the trafficking of people and drugs, which is on the rise in Mauritius, according to the joint statement on Thursday.

“The treaty will open a new chapter in our shared history,” the two countries said. The agreement would also “herald a new era of economic, security and environmental partnership between our two nations.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/4/why-is-the-uk-handing-the-chagos-islands-back-to-mauritius