Mauritius

Britain announced on Thursday (October 3rd) that it will hand over jurisdiction of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it says will ensure the future of the UK-US military base Diego Garcia and could also pave the way for the return of displaced residents decades later. back home, with US President Joe Biden welcoming the deal but critics say the move was a capitulation to China, and a group representing Displaced Chagos Islanders expressed dismay at being left out of the negotiation process, reporting that “Reuters“.

The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, announced that the agreement had resolved the controversial issue of sovereignty over the island, the last British overseas country in Africa.

Foreign Minister Lammy said that despite legal challenges that have threatened the future of the Diego Garcia military base, its strategic importance, which was a launch pad for long-range bombers during the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict , now secured for at least 99 years.

“Today’s agreement will strengthen our role in global security,” Lammy said in a statement.

Biden echoed that sentiment, saying Diego Garcia was “vital to national, regional and global security.”

“It will allow the United States to support operations that demonstrate our shared commitment to regional stability, rapid response to crises and addressing some of the most complex security threats we face,” he said.

Britain has controlled the Chagos islands since 1814, separating it from Mauritius in 1965 and creating the British Indian Ocean Territory, but in the early 1970s, it displaced around 2,000 residents to build a US air base on the island of Diego Garcia. In a 2019 resolution, the UN asked Britain to control the islands, citing the illegal deportation of the population. In 2016, Britain extended Diego Garcia’s lease to 2036 and banned the exiled islanders from returning.

The new agreement states that Mauritius will be free to implement a resettlement program on all other islands except Diego Garcia, the conditions of which will be decided by Mauritius itself.

“We were driven by our conviction to end the decolonization of our republic,” Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said in a televised address.

Olivier Bancoult, head of the Chagoss Refugee Group based in Mauritius, said it marked a turning point and official recognition of the crimes suffered by the Chagossians.

However, the diaspora group based in the UK “Voices of Chagos” expressed its criticism because “the Chagos community has been excluded from the discussions”.

“The Chagossians… are still powerless and without the right to vote in deciding the future of ourselves and our homeland,” said a statement on the Facebook social network.

David Blagden, associate professor of international security and strategy at the University of Exeter, said the deal was a “huge win” for Mauritius, allowing it to receive financial aid from China “as reward for making it difficult for the US and the UK. use Diego Garcia”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made it a priority to resolve the Chagos Islands issue after his Labor party’s victory, but leaders of the opposition Tory Party criticized the deal, saying it risked China’s seizure of the ocean. Indian, and Tory security spokesman. Tom Tugendhat (Tom Tugendhat) called it a “dangerous capitulation”.

However, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller assured that basic security would be maintained under the agreement.

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