UK to give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

On 3rd October 2024 the UK announced it will give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, a cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius. 

When Britain and Mauritius ratified the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, in 2017 and 2006, respectively, both issued declarations that the Chagos Archipelago was part of their sovereign territory. However, unlike the UK, Mauritius has  only ratified the Convention, but neither Protocol. The new move will mean that the Second Protocol, drafted in 1999 and ratified by the UK in 2017, will no longer apply to the islands.

​The change comes on the 70th anniversary of the Convention, and 25th anniversary of the Second Protocol.

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.  Britain later apologised for forcibly removing more than 1,000 islanders from the entire archipelago. Some of the Chagos islanders, who were forced to abandon their homes, repeatedly took the British Government to court.

The statement from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth emphasises the treaty will also "address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians". ​

According to the BBC
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 [...]

At a rally from the Chagos Island Community ...

"If you go there today, my ancestors tombs are in winds, being taken over by nature [...] This is our land [...] You committed crime against humanity, against us..."

Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor at HRW said in a statement 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".

Although far from the UK, the islands remain strategically important. The deal, which is set to be concluded shortly, includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, used by the UK and US government as a military base for its navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft. The US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia – a key factor enabling the deal to go forward. 

The UK will provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, including annual payments and infrastructure investment. Mauritius will be able to begin a programme of resettlement on the Chagos Islands, but not on Diego Garcia.​

Although some within UK Government are critical of the deal, it is a historic moment in which the UK has peacefully and legally agreed to hand over one of the very last pieces of its colonial empire.

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.