Thursday, October 3, 2024, 8:48 p.m.
Many of us would react with bewilderment if we were asked to locate the Chagos Archipelago on a world map. In fact, some of us wouldn’t have it very easy even if they explained to us where it is located, because these islands are one of those territories located in the middle of nowhere, just a few dots in the immensity of the Indian Ocean: halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia, about 500 kilometers from the Maldives and 1,600 from India. And yet, these 63 square kilometers of land spread across 15,000 square kilometers of sea have been the subject of a long and bitter dispute that was finally resolved today, when the United Kingdom ceded sovereignty to Mauritius. The British thus renounce their last colony in Africa.
But that last sentence is misleading, because for them what they keep is much more important than what they lose. In fact, the key paragraph of the treaty signed by both governments devotes more space to the former than the latter: “The United Kingdom agrees that Mauritius has sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego García [la isla principal, de 27 kilómetros cuadrados]. At the same time, our two countries are committed to the need, and will agree in the treaty, to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base at Diego García, which plays a vital role in regional and global security. », determines the joint statement. In fact, the transfer of the territory for the base, used by the United States for its warships and aircraft, concluded in 2036, but has now been guaranteed for 99 years from the signing.
The Chagos Archipelago is one of those territories that history turned into a toy for the great powers. The Portuguese discovered it, but it remained uninhabited until the French established a colony there in the 18th century with the intention of exploiting coconut plantations: for this they brought slaves from the African continent and India, who are the ancestors of the current Chagossians. Perhaps the most unique feature of this archipelago is that it was forcibly populated, due to the interests of Europeans, and then underwent the opposite process, also at the whim of the metropolis. The British – who had taken over Mauritius, including the Chagos, after the Napoleonic Wars – implemented a reprehensible maneuver: in 1968, when they granted independence to Mauritius, they excluded the Chagos from the deal. The new Republic of Mauritius accepted, in exchange for three million pounds, but afterwards it has always maintained that it had no other choice but to accept that extortion. At that time, the United States had already become interested in Diego García, very attractive from a strategic point of view, and the United Kingdom expelled the entire population to cede the island to its powerful allies. About two thousand people were exiled.
Resettlement program
In recent years, international pressure on the United Kingdom had tightened. In 2017, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to rule on the matter, and the court recalled that, according to international law, the “territorial integrity” of countries must be respected during the decolonization process, in addition to demanding that London end its control of Chagos “as quickly as possible.” In May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the United Kingdom to hand over the archipelago to Mauritius within six months, which has become more than five years. The treaty grants Mauritius a package of financial support and authorizes it to launch a resettlement program, apart from Diego García.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has applauded the “historic agreement” and has stated that the military base “plays a vital role for national, regional and global security.” The leadership candidates of the British Conservatives, for their part, have criticized the treaty, despite the fact that their party was in the Government when the negotiations began.
“Very different” from the Falklands
Apart from Mauritius, the place where the Chagos negotiations have been followed with the most interest is surely the Falklands, on the other side of the planet. The UK authorities have acknowledged that there may be certain “concerns” due to the similarity between the two territories, but have been quick to point out that “the legal and historical contexts” are “very different.” London, they have said, “will not accept anything that risks endangering the sovereignty of other overseas territories.”
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