A Milestone for Mauritius: UK to Hand Over Chagos Islands After Decades of Dispute
After years of negotiations between the UK and Mauritius, the British government has finally struck a deal to hand over sovereignty of a small but strategically important set of islands in the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Islands.
These islands, although not boasting a large population, have significant strategic importance in the world as the home of the Diego Garcia tropical atoll, used as an important military base for both the US and UK. Here, the US military keeps numerous navy ships and long-range bomber aircrafts that allow them to hold a strong position in the Indian Ocean region. This base was used as a vital point for US air offences during the Gulf Wars in the Middle East as well as the invasion of Afghanistan.
From 1814, both Mauritius and its dependencies, including the Chagos Islands, were colonies of the UK. However, after UN resolution 1514 in 1960 calling for total decolonisation across the world, the UK made preparations for Mauritian independence. Despite this, the UK thought it was strategically viable to hold onto the Chagos Islands and so decided to effectively buy them off the Mauritian state under the Lancaster House agreement. This led to the creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory, severing the island’s former relation with Mauritius. The US later requested a 70 year lease to install a military base on the islands which the UK government duly accepted.
Due to this repurposing of the islands during the 1970s, many native Chagossians, primarily descendants of African slaves brought over by the French, were forced to relocate to other countries from their home, including both Mauritius and the Seychelles. This was later stated as being a ‘shameful’ part of British history by the UK government and some Chagossians were compensated for this through schemes from the Mauritius government supported by the UK.
Since the 1980s however, the Mauritian government had challenged the UK over sovereignty of the islands, stating that they were forced to hand them over to their former colonial powers under duress and thus argued the agreement was invalid and illegal under international law. In 2000 the Organisation of African Unity adopted a resolution that stated the cessation of the Chagos Islands back to the UK was breaking the UN 1514 resolution. This later digressed to the UN asking the International Court of Justice if this was an unlawful move in 2017 and in 2019 the ICJ agreed this was unlawful by the British government. Thus, the UN ordered the UK to relieve the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, the British government ignored this and claimed the ruling was only advisory.
However, in 2022 then foreign secretary James Cleverly opened talks with the Mauritian government to hand the Chagos islands back. This caused friction within the Conservative Party with some, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, arguing that Mauritius’ claim to sovereignty over the islands was ‘preposterous’. Over time, talks between both the UK and Mauritius were rumoured to have halted however with the induction of Keir Starmer and the Labour Party in No. 10 they have finally reopened and come to an agreement. Included in the agreement is a resettlement plan for native Chagossians back to islands excluding Diego Garcia, as this will be allowed to continue as a UK and US military base under the accord.
While there has been some praise to the Labour government for assisting in the ending Britain’s strange position as a continuing colonial power, many primarily in the Conservative party but also beyond argue this move weakens western strategic positions in the region, slightly ironic being that the initial talks were opened and supported by a Conservative party led premiership. Furthermore, there has been controversy in the fact the native Chagossian people have been largely left out of any negotiations and feel their viewpoints have been ignored by both the UK and Mauritian governments. This has opened questions on Chagossians’ reparations and their right to return to their homeland that have largely been ignored.
Overall, the UK has made key steps in ending its historic colonial legacy and injustices in the region and its commitment to upholding international law. This move will hopefully strengthen diplomatic relations and cooperation between Mauritius and the UK/US partnership whilst continuing US hold on global security within the region however, questions on the inclusion of native Chagossians in these talks remains a key issue and one that has largely been unanswered by all parties.
Words by George Bolger
Cover Image Credit: gCaptain
