Agreement to hand back UK’s last African colony follows 13 rounds of negotiations and international pressure
Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos islands, has been a UK and US airbase since the 1960s and is thought to be excluded from the right to return.Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos islands, has been a UK and US airbase since the 1960s and is thought to be excluded from the right to return.by the international court of justice , the UN general assembly and the international tribunal of the law of the sea in 2019 and 2021.before granting independence in 1968.
The Guardian understands that in the treaty there will be a right to return to all of the islands in the Chagos archipelago except for Diego Garcia.The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the UK government had secured the future of the military base “as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner”.
Many Chagossians wanted self-determination, fearing their identity would be lost in any transfer of ownership to Mauritius, which does not recognise the islands as an independent territory.Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, condemned the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement.
Other Chagossians have been focused on their rights and status in the UK. In 2022, the Home Office said descendants of islanders forcibly evicted, in a report last year, said the UK should pay full and unconditional reparations to generations affected by its forcible displacement ofinhabitants in the 1960s and 70s, calling it “an appalling colonial crime” and a crime against humanity by the UK and the US.
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