Britain hands over Chagos Islands to Mauritius, keeps Diego Garcia base

BRITAIN said on Thursday (3) it would give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that would allow people displaced decades ago to return home while London retained use of the important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

Britain said that the operation of Diego Garcia, a strategic airbase in the Indian Ocean jointly operated with the US, was protected by the agreement, which also allows Mauritius to resettle the rest of the islands after its population was displaced.

US president Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of the airbase into the next century.

"Diego Garcia is the site of a joint US-UK military facility that plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security," he said in a statement.

British foreign secretary David Lammy said that the contested sovereignty of the islands and ongoing legal challenges meant the long-term future of the Diego Garcia site had been under threat.

"Today's agreement secures this vital military base for the future. It will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security," Lammy said in a statement.

Britain, which has controlled the region since 1814, detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius - a former colony that became independent three years later - to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In the early 1970s, it evicted almost 2,000 residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for an airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia, which it had leased to the US in 1966.

A non-binding resolution in the UN General Assembly in 2019 said Britain should give up control of the islands and that it had wrongfully forced the population to leave.

In 2016, Britain's foreign ministry extended Diego Garcia's lease until 2036, and declared the expelled islanders would not be allowed to go back.

The deal marks a change of approach to the issue from new prime minister Keir Starmer, who has said his government would be, in part, defined by a respect for international law after his Labour Party won power in July.

A Downing Street spokesperson said, “The prime minister spoke to the prime minister of the Republic of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, this morning. The leaders began by welcoming the political agreement achieved today between the UK and Mauritius on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago after two years of negotiations.

“The prime minister reiterated the importance of reaching this deal to protect the continued operation of the UK/US military base on Diego Garcia. He underscored his steadfast duty to national and global security which underpinned the political agreement reached today."

“They looked forward to speaking again," the spokesperson added.

Mauritius's foreign affairs ministry and prime minister's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, some in Britain's opposition Conservative party criticised the agreement.

"Weak, weak, weak!," former foreign minister James Cleverly, who is running to be the next Tory leader, said on X.

Under the agreement Britain will be authorised to exercise sovereign rights over Diego Garcia in order to ensure the continued operation of the base for an initial 99 years.

Its strategic importance was demonstrated during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, where it acted as a launch pad for long-range bombers.

(Reuters)