*UK and Mauritius Finalize Agreement to Transfer Chagos Islands, Resolving Longstanding Dispute
London: The United Kingdom announced on Thursday that it has reached an agreement to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, concluding decades of negotiations and disputes over Britain’s last African colony.
This landmark agreement follows 13 rounds of talks that began in 2022, sparked by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and UN General Assembly recognizing Mauritius’s sovereignty claims in 2019 and 2021.
Historically, before granting independence to Mauritius in 1968, the UK separated the Chagos archipelago to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). This separation involved the unlawful expulsion of 1,500 to 2,000 islanders, enabling the UK to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, to the United States for military purposes.
Despite UN rulings demanding the return of the islands, the UK had initially dismissed these findings, asserting that the ICJ’s decision was merely advisory. The forced displacement of the Chagossian community, which had lived on the islands for centuries, was carried out between 1967 and 1973. This included not only Diego Garcia but also Peros Banhos and Salomon.
In a symbolic act of defiance, the Mauritian ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, raised the Mauritian flag at Peros Banhos in February 2022, marking Mauritius’s first expedition to the territory since the islanders were expelled.
Under the new agreement, the UK will retain control of the military base on Diego Garcia while recognizing Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy emphasized the UK government’s commitment to maintaining a strong relationship with Mauritius.
However, many Chagossians have expressed frustration over their exclusion from the negotiations. Chagossian Voices, a community organization, condemned the lack of consultation, stating that the indigenous inhabitants’ views have been “consistently and deliberately ignored.”
The United States welcomed the agreement as a “historic” step, reaffirming its support for the negotiations between the UK and Mauritius. The U.S. Department of State noted that the agreement secures the future of the joint U.S.-UK military facility on Diego Garcia.
In a related statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs expressed support for the agreement, highlighting its commitment to Mauritius’s sovereignty claims and the broader decolonization process. The agreement is seen as a significant development in resolving the longstanding Chagos dispute in compliance with international law.
