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.
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
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.
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