Why Chagos Islands matter, why UK keeps Diego Garcia base

The archipelago

The Chagos archipelago, comprising 58 islands, lies astir 500 km to the southbound of the Maldives archipelago successful the Indian Ocean. These islands were uninhabited until the precocious 18th century, erstwhile the French brought successful enslaved labour from Africa and India to enactment successful newly-established coconut plantations. In 1814, France ceded the islands to the British.

In 1965, the UK constituted the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), of which the Chagos Islands were a cardinal part. Chagos was attached to Mauritius, different British colony successful the Indian Ocean, for administrative purposes.

When Mauritius gained independency successful 1968, Chagos remained with Britain. The UK authorities gave the newly-independent state a assistance of 3 cardinal pounds implicit the “detachment” of the Chagos archipelago.

Strategic subject base

Behind Britain retaining sovereignty implicit the Chagos Islands was its strategical location. In 1966, Britain signed an statement with the US which made the BIOT disposable for the 2 countries’ defence needs. Land was acquired successful 1967, and 4 years later, the plantation connected Diego Garcia — the largest successful the archipelago — was unopen down.

The BIOT medication past enacted an Immigration Ordinance, which made it unlawful for a idiosyncratic to participate oregon stay successful Diego Garcia without a permit, and enabled the removal of those who remained connected the island. Around 2,000 civilians were subsequently kicked retired — an contented that has been cardinal to the quality betwixt the UK and Mauritius.

Diego Garcia became a afloat operational subject basal successful 1986. According to an nonfiction successful the Foreign Policy magazine, “Thanks to its captious location, the land houses a subject basal that served arsenic a captious node for American aerial operations during the Gulf War and the wars successful Iraq and Afghanistan. Post-9/11, it has besides been allegedly utilized arsenic a detention centre by the [US quality agency] CIA.”

Given the ongoing tensions successful West Asia, maintaining a beingness successful the Indian Ocean remains captious for US interests. Diego Garcia besides gives the Americans an outpost to show the Malacca Strait, a chokepoint for satellite commercialized that is particularly captious to China.

Treaty’s significance

Mauritius has agelong claimed that the UK illegally occupies Chagos, and has raised the substance galore times successful planetary fora.

In 2017, the UN General Assembly voted to inquire the International Court of Justice to analyse the ineligible presumption of the Chagos archipelago. Two years later, the UNGA adopted a solution welcoming an ICJ advisory opinion, demanding that the United Kingdom “unconditionally retreat its assemblage medication from the country wrong six months”.

Then ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf had said the detachment of the Chagos archipelago successful 1965 from Mauritius was not based connected a “free and genuine look of the radical concerned”.

The statement betwixt the UK and Mauritius strikes a balance. The UK has ceded claims implicit the islands, and Mauritius is present “free to instrumentality a programme of resettlement connected the islands of the Chagos Archipelago, different than Diego Garcia”. The UK has besides promised to make a caller spot money “for the payment of Chagossians”.

However, the statement allows the Diego Garcia basal to stay operational for an “initial period” of 99 years. The UK volition proceed to workout sovereign rights implicit the island.

The solution of the quality has broader implications. As the Foreign Policy nonfiction noted: “If near unresolved… the contented could thrust countries specified arsenic Mauritius to question redress with alternate partners similar China.”

As a federation formerly colonised by Britain, India has maintained steadfast enactment to Mauritius’ claims implicit the Chagos Islands. It voted successful favour of the land state astatine the UNGA successful 2019. In caller years, India has attempted to deepen its ties with Mauritius amidst China’s ever expanding assertiveness successful the Indian Ocean. Earlier this year, an India-built airstrip and a jetty was inaugurated astatine Agaléga, a two-island dependency of Mauritius successful the Western Indian Ocean.