An agreement has been reached to hand over the long-disputed Chagos Islands to Mauritius, announce the British and Mauritian governments.
The Chagos Islands consist mainly of seven atolls located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, far northeast of Mauritius. Technically, if they are to be seen as part of Mauritius, they can be counted as Britain's last African colony.
Retained the Atolls
The scattered island group belonged to Mauritius until the 1960s, when Mauritius was still a British colony. In connection with Mauritius gaining independence, Britain separated the Chagos Islands and retained control over them – and then forcibly relocated their indigenous population, the Chagossians, to Mauritius.
This was followed by the construction of one of the most secret military bases by allied USA and Britain on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. It has been reported, among other things, that the American intelligence agency CIA has had a secret prison for persons labeled as terrorists.
The base will be allowed to remain under the same conditions as before.
"Today's agreement ensures this important military base for the future," announces Britain's Foreign Minister David Lammy.
HRW: Human Rights Violations
The Chagossians have been fighting for decades to return to their home islands, where today there are no inhabitants except for the military base.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled that Britain should return the islands to Mauritius to "complete the decolonization of its territory". The same year, the UN General Assembly voted with a large majority in favor of this happening.
Last year, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch declared that the forced relocations in the 1960s constituted British and American crimes against humanity.
