Britain Hands Sovereignty Of Chagos Islands To Mauritius

The UK government has agreed to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The Chagos Islands are a cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean. At the same time, under the new agreement, the UK will still retain control of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The agreement follows 13 rounds of talks that began in 2022 after Mauritian calls for sovereignty were recognised the UN General Assembly and International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said that they had reached a “historic political agreement on the exercise of sovereignty” over the Chagos Islands. However, the deal is subject to finalisation of a treaty, but both countries have promised to complete the process quickly. The move marks the end of decades of dispute and negotiation over Britain’s last African colony.

According to the United Nations, in splitting the islands from Mauritius, Britain expelled between 1,500 and 2,000 islanders so that it could lease Diego Garcia to the United States for military use. Britain had earlier reportedly dismissed UN rulings and court judgements demanding it return the islands to Mauritius. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden also welcomed the news of the handover. As part of the deal, Britain will also provide Mauritius with a package of financial support to implement projects to enhance economic development.