Historic agreement: Britain will cede part of its Indian Ocean colonies

Britain will cede the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, but will maintain a military base there alongside the United States, London announced Thursday. US President Joe Biden called it a historic deal.

Britain has been under pressure for decades to relinquish sovereignty over the islands, but has resisted such a move because the island has a strategically important air force base. largest of the islands, Diego Garcia Atoll.

“For the first time in more than 50 years, the status of the base will be unchallenged and secured by law,” said the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Biden also praised Diego Garcia for his to maintain a foundation.

I welcome the historic agreement and the conclusion of the negotiations,” Biden said, adding that the site is “of critical importance to national, regional and global security.”

In 1965, Britain decided to separate the islands from the then colony of Mauritius and create a military base there, which it leased to the United States. During the construction of the base, between 1968 and 1973, around 2,000 natives of the Chagos Islands were moved to Great Britain, Mauritius and Seychelles. Since then, these people have filed a series of claims for compensation in the British courts.

Mauritius has claimed the Chagos Islands since gaining independence in 1968. In 2019, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) advised Britain to retain control of the Chagos Islands, but this was not done. -to follow the decision of the London court.

Discussions about the future of the islands between the countries began in 2022.

Without an agreement, the “long-term and secure operation” of the military base would be at risk, the British Foreign Office said. The agreement also eliminates the possibility of using these islands as a “dangerous illegal migration route to Britain”, said British Foreign Minister David Lammy.