In what US President Joe Biden called a “historic agreement,” Britain stated on Thursday that it would cede to Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, although it will retain its strategically important joint military facility with the US on Diego Garcia.
Due to the Diego Garcia base, a vital facility that supports US activities in the Indian Ocean and Gulf regions, Britain has been under pressure for decades to turn over the Indian Ocean islands, but it has refused.
“For the first time in more than 50 years, the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure,” the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.
Biden hailed the continuation of the Diego Garcia base on the largest island in the chain and was used during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I applaud the historic agreement and conclusion of the negotiations,” Biden said in a White House statement, adding that the site “plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security”.
In 1965, Britain made the decision to split the islands off from its colony of Mauritius at the time and established a military installation there, which it leased to the US government.
Thousands of residents of Chagos Island were forced to leave as a result, and they have since filed many lawsuits seeking damages in British courts.
Since gaining independence in 1968, Mauritius has claimed the archipelago, now known as the British Indian Ocean Territory. The announcement of the pact was hailed by the foreign minister of Mauritius as “a day to remember” and a “seminal moment” in his nation’s history with Britain.
International calls for Britain to hand over one of its last remaining overseas territories have grown in recent years.
The International Court of Justice recommended in 2019 that Britain turn over the inaccessible islands. In the same year, Britain’s withdrawal was approved by the UN General Assembly as well.
After years of the UK refusing to give up power, negotiations between the two nations on the islands’ future started in 2022.
According to Britain’s foreign ministry, “the long-term, secure operation” of the military installation would be in jeopardy without the agreement, including through legal challenges from international courts.
“Today’s agreement secures this vital military base for the future”, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, adding that the deal would also shut down the potential use of the islands being used as a “dangerous illegal migration route to the UK”.
