The United Kingdom government has agreed to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, including the Diego Garcia atoll used by the United States as a military base (of which, however, London will retain control), ending its rule over the last British colony in Africa.
London has controlled the archipelago since 1814 but in 1965 administratively separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, a former British colony that gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968, to establish the so-called British Indian Ocean Territory. In the early 1970s Downing Street ordered the expulsion of around two thousand residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands to expand the air base on the island of Diego Garcia, leased to the United States since 1966.
In 2019 the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that the United Kingdom should give up control over the islands, declaring the expulsion of the population to make way for an air base unjust. The agreement reached today between London and Mauritius follows a series of negotiations that began in 2022, after the recognition of the reasons of the African state not only by the Court of The Hague but also by the UN General Assembly and the Tribunal international law of the sea, which ruled on the issue in 2021.
In a joint statement, the United Kingdom and Mauritius said that the political understanding on the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands “enjoys the support and assistance of the United States and India”. “The treaty will open a new chapter in our common history”, reads the text, which “heralds a new era of economic, security and environmental partnership between our nations”.
The agreement also provides for a package of financial support from the British government to Mauritius “to implement projects that stimulate the economic development” of the African country. The two nations will also collaborate on various other issues such as environmental protection, maritime safety, the fight against drug and human trafficking. But the most controversial issue remains that relating to the US military base of Diego Garcia, of which London will retain control in exchange for the guarantee of the resettlement of the population of Mauritius on the islands.
“This government inherited a situation in which the safe and long-term operation of the Diego Garcia military base was under threat, its sovereignty contested by ongoing legal challenges,” he said. stated in a note from British Foreign Minister David Lammy. “Today’s agreement secures this vital military base for the future and will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security, eliminate any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK, as well as ensuring the our long-term relationship with Mauritius.”
#United #Kingdom #cedes #Chagos #Islands #Mauritius #including #Diego #Garcia #air #base #USA