After more than half a century, Britain has announced it is giving up sovereignty over remote but strategically important islands in the Indian Ocean.
The deal, which follows years of negotiations, will see Britain hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a historic move.
This includes Diego Garcia, a tropical atoll used by the U.S. government as a military base for naval ships and long-range bombers.
The announcement, made in a joint statement by the British and Mauritian prime ministers on Thursday, brought to an end decades of often fractious negotiations between the two countries over the island.
The US-British base will remain at Diego Garcia, a key factor in securing the deal at a time of increasing geopolitical competition between Western countries, India and China.
The deal still needs to be finalized in a treaty, but both sides have pledged to get it done as quickly as possible.
“Following two years of negotiations, this is a significant moment in our relationship and demonstrates our continued commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said in a statement. .
The leaders also said they were committed “to ensuring the long-term, safe and effective operation of the existing base in Diego Garcia, which plays a critical role in regional and global security.”
Both sides said the treaty “will demonstrate the commitment of both sides to address past wrongs and support the well-being of the Chagossian people.”
The two countries will establish a new partnership where the UK will provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, including a focus on infrastructure. Mauritius can now introduce a resettlement program in the Chagos Islands, excluding the military base of Diego Garcia Island.
The UK will guarantee the operation of the military base for an ‘initial period’ of 99 years. The United States also supported the decision, with President Joe Biden issuing a statement applauding the “historic” deal.
“This clearly demonstrates that through diplomacy and partnerships, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges and reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes,” President Biden said.
In recent years, Britain has become increasingly diplomatically isolated over its claims to what is called the British Indian Ocean Territory. Various UN bodies, including the highest court and the General Assembly, overwhelmingly sided with Mauritius. And he demands that Britain surrender. Some people called “Africa’s last colony”.
The Mauritian government has long maintained that it illegally received the Chagos Islands in return for independence from Britain in 1968.
At that time, the British government had already signed a secret deal with the United States, agreeing to lease the largest atoll, Diego Garcia, as a military base.
Britain later apologized for the forcible removal of more than 1,000 islanders from the entire archipelago and promised to hand the islands over to Mauritius once they were no longer needed for strategic purposes.
But until very recently, Britain maintained that Mauritius itself had no legal claim to the island.
For decades, the small island nation of Mauritius has struggled to win international support on the issue.
A small number of Chagos Islanders were forced to abandon their homes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has repeatedly taken the British government to court..
But only recently has international public opinion begun to change.
First of all, African countries began to speak with one voice on this issue and put strong pressure on Britain to decolonize.
Since Brexit, many European countries have become reluctant to continue to support the UK’s position in international forums.
The Mauritian government went on the attack. criticize The British government issued verbal threats.
And the Mauritians began mounting an increasingly sophisticated campaign through the United Nations, the courts and the media. Land and plant a flag on an archipelago Without UK permission.
The negotiations that led to Thursday’s deal began years before Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister.
But the timing of this breakthrough reflects a growing sense of urgency in international affairs, particularly those involving Ukraine. Britain is seeking a second breakthrough, removing the Chagos issue as an obstacle to gaining more global support, especially from African countries. President Trump’s election is approaching.
Chagos Islanders, some living in Mauritius and Seychelles and others in Crawley, do not speak with one voice about 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 status of the Chagos archipelago should not be resolved by outsiders.
Despite successive Conservative and Labor prime ministers both working towards the same broad goals, a backlash from some voices in the UK can be expected.
But the historical significance of this moment is beyond doubt.
More than half a century after Britain gave up control of nearly all of its vast global empire, the country has finally agreed to hand over one of its final pieces. Perhaps they did so reluctantly, but perhaps they did so peacefully and legally.
The remaining British Overseas Territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and South Sandwich. Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands.
