[SFDXA] UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

[Bill]

/From Tony N2MFT:/


  UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

19 hours ago
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Andrew Harding
BBC correspondent•@AndrewWJHarding <https://twitter.com/AndrewWJHarding>
Getty Images An aerial photo shows the Chagos IslandsGetty Images

The UK has announced it is giving up sovereignty of a remote but 
strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean after 
more than half a century.

The deal – reached after years of negotiations - will see the UK hand 
over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a historic move.

This includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, used by the US 
government as a military base for its navy ships and long-range bomber 
aircraft.

The announcement, made in a joint statement by the UK and Mauritian 
Prime Ministers, ends decades of often fractious negotiations between 
the two countries.

The US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia – a key factor enabling the 
deal to go forward at a time of growing geopolitical rivalries in the 
region between Western countries, India, and China.

  * The BBC visits the secretive Chagos Islands military base
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckdg7jjlx2go>
  * UN says UK military island not suitable for stranded migrants
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67996408>
  * UK commitment to Falklands 'unwavering' despite Chagos deal
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyv49klw25o>

The deal is still subject to finalisation of a treaty, but both sides 
have promised to complete it as quickly as possible.

"This is a seminal moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our 
enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule 
of law," the statement from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritius 
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth read.

The leaders also said they were committed "to ensure the long-term, 
secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia 
which plays a vital role in regional and global security".

The treaty will also "address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the 
commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians".

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the benefits of the deal included 
closing "a potential illegal migration route".

Dozens of Sri Lankan Tamilshave been held in a fenced camp on the island 
for three years <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67996408>as complex legal 
battles are waged over their fate.

It is unclear what the announcement will mean for them.

The UK will provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, 
including annual payments and infrastructure investment.

Mauritius will also be able to begin a programme of resettlement on the 
Chagos Islands, but not on Diego Garcia.

There, the UK will ensure operation of the military base for "an initial 
period" of 99 years.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the "historic agreement", saying it was 
a "clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries 
can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and 
mutually beneficial outcomes".

He said it secured the future of a key military base which "plays a 
vital role in national, regional, and global security."

The Chagos islanders themselves – some in Mauritius and the Seychelles, 
but others living in Crawley in Sussex – do not speak with one voice on 
the fate of their homeland.

Some are determined to return to live on the isolated islands, some are 
more focused on their rights and status in the UK, while others argue 
that the archipelago’s status should not be resolved by outsiders.

Isabelle Charlot, speaking on BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, said 
the deal brought back hopes her family could return to her father's 
island "roots".

Plans for the Mauritius government to arrange resettlement would mean a 
"place that we can call home - where we will be free," she said.

But Frankie Bontemps, a second generation Chagossian in the UK, told the 
BBC that he felt "betrayed" and "angry" at the news because "Chagossians 
have never been involved" in the negotiations.

"We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future", he 
said, and called for the full inclusion of Chagossians in drafting the 
treaty.

Getty Images A US Air Force bomber takes off from Diego Garcia, bound 
for a mission in Afghanistan, in October 2001.Getty Images
The US-UK military operate a highly-secretive base from one of the 
islands, Diego Garcia

In recent years, the UK has faced rising diplomatic isolation over its 
claim to what it refers to as the British Indian Ocean Territory, 
withvarious United Nations bodies, including its top court and general 
assembly, overwhelmingly siding with Mauritius 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-55848126>and demanding the UK 
surrender whatsome have called 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08sfyf2>its "last colony in Africa".

The government of Mauritius has long argued that it was illegally forced 
to give the Chagos Islands away in return for its own independence from 
the UK in 1968.

At the time, the British government had already negotiated a secret deal 
with the US, agreeing to lease it the largest atoll, Diego Garcia, for 
use as a military base.

Britain later apologised for forcibly removing more than 1,000 islanders 
from the entire archipelago and promised to hand the islands to 
Mauritius when they were no longer needed for strategic purposes.

But until very recently, the UK insisted that Mauritius itself had no 
legitimate claim to the islands.

A map shows the location of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. 
South west of the islands is the island of Mauritius, with some on 
Africa shown to the west.

For decades, the tiny island nation of Mauritius struggled to win any 
serious international support on the issue.

A handful of Chagos islanders, who’d been forced to abandon their homes 
in the late 1960s and early 70s,repeatedly took the British government 
to court <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36659976>.

But it was only recently that international opinion began to shift.

African nations began to speak with one voice on the issue, pushing the 
UK hard on the issue of decolonialisation.

Then Brexit left many European nations reluctant to continue backing the 
UK’s stance in international forums.

The Mauritian government went on the attack,accusing 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45300739>the UK government of 
verbal threats.

And the Mauritians began to wage an increasingly sophisticated campaign 
– at the UN, in courts, and in the media – evenlanding and planting a 
flag on the archipelago 
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60349040>without British 
authorisation.

The negotiations that brought about Thursday's deal began under the 
previous UK government.

But the timing of this breakthrough reflects a growing sense of urgency 
in international affairs, not least regarding Ukraine, with the UK keen 
to remove the Chagos issue as an obstacle to winning more global 
support, particularly from African nations, with the prospect of a 
second Trump presidency looming.

A backlash from some voices in the UK can be expected, even though 
successive Conservative and Labour prime ministers have been working 
towards the same broad goal.

Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat argued the deal had been 
"negotiated against Britain's interest" and it was "disgraceful" that 
such talks had begun under the previous Conservative government.

He called it a "shameful retreat" that leaves "allies exposed", while 
the former foreign secretary James Cleverly called it a "weak" deal.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the deal will "address the wrongs against 
the Chagossians of the past but it looks like it will continue the 
crimes long into the future”.

There must be meaningful consultations with the Chagossians or the UK, 
US and now Mauritius will be responsible for "a still-ongoing colonial 
crime", Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor at HRW said in a statement.

But there can be no doubting the historic significance of this moment.

Half a century or more after the UK relinquished control over almost all 
its global empire, it has finally agreed to hand over one of the very 
last pieces. It has done so reluctantly, perhaps, but also peacefully 
and legally.

The remaining British overseas territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, 
British Antarctic Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, 
Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, 
Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich 
Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. There are also two sovereign base 
areas on Cyprus under British jurisdiction.

Following the Chagos announcement, the governor of the Falklands said 
the islands are safe in British hands.

"The UK’s unwavering commitment to defend UK sovereignty [of the 
Falklands] remains undiminished", Alison Blake said in astatement posted 
to social media <https://x.com/GHFalklands/status/1841824267463193027>.


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