After 50 years of having control over the Chagos Islands, the United Kingdom is finally returning the sacred archipelago to the Chagossian people. The islands belong now to the country of Mauritius, which was taken over by the UK in 1814. When Maritus gained independence from the UK, the UK detached the Chagos Islands to create the British Indian Ocean Territory, and exiled all Chagossians who had been living on the various islands since the 18th century. The islands remained inhabited. Chagossians consider themselves native to the islands, and want to lead a self-determining nation as indigenous people of Chagos. The treaty in between the UK and Mauritius allows Mauritius to legally resettle all of the islands, excluding the largest island, Diego Garcia.
The archipelago, a remote grouping of over 60 islands located in the Indian Ocean, has been home to a US-built military base since 1971, on the southernmost and largest island, Diego Garcia. The location of the base is strategically located, where it is close to Southeast Asia, Southeast Africa, and the Middle East. The agreement between the governments of the UK and Mauritius exchanged full sovereignty over the islands as long as the United States Military base could continue operations.
The Indigenous nature of Chagossians has long been a topic of discussion involving ownership of the islands, being a group of Afro-Asian people originating from freed African slaves from French and Portuguese colonies as well as people of Asian descent. When the 3,000 natives were evicted from Chagos and granted citizenship in the UK, they faced major oppression, being referred to as “Tarzans”. Soon after, Former Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam began a legal battle to win the territory back. Ramgoolam brought the UK to the International Court of Justice, and the court issued a advisory opinion in favor of Mauritius, that the UK wrongfully forced the inhabitants of the island to make way for the US airbase. The lasting impact of the removal of the people of the islands has been made clear to the UK government; the slow extinction of the culture.
The Chagossian communities pressured the government to take action in 2016, when the initial lease of Diego Garcia to the US was set to expire. while the UK said the “regretted” how they removed Chagossians, the US lease to Diego Garcia was renewed for 20 more years. The UK foreign office proposed supported the exiled Chagossians with over 53 million dollars over 10 years, but to them it did not matter since the islands are sacred and have spiritual meaning to the people.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/4/why-is-the-uk-handing-the-chagos-islands-back-to-mauritius