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Since accepting it last October, the British Labor government has been dampening opposition to its deal hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, a strategic archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius. The UK was under pressure to do so following an advisory opinion from the UN’s highest court and a vote by the UN general assembly. However, critics have warned that the deal could threaten the British-US military base at Diego Garcia (although it is supposed to be protected by a 99-year lease) and allow China to expand its power in the Indian Ocean. TO delay until completion scheduled for this week should ensure the deal wins approval from the new administration of Britain’s key ally, and that some of its flaws are addressed.
The Chagos were the scene of one of the most shameful episodes in recent British colonial history. In 1965, the United Kingdom took direct control of the islands and paid compensation of £3 million to Mauritius, which as a colony of the United Kingdom had previously administered them, so that construction of the Diego Garcia base could go ahead. The more than 1,500 inhabitants of the islands were forcibly displaced Without adequate compensation, many of them went to squalid settlements in Mauritius and the Seychelles, and were never allowed to return.
When Mauritius gained its independence in 1968, its new constitution claimed the Chagos. He has long argued that the UK purchase in 1965 violated a UN principle that colonial territories should not be divided before independence. In 2019, the International Court of Justice supported Mauritius’ claim in an advisory resolution; A UN tribunal in 2021 agreed.
This was a dilemma for the UK. Complying with the ruling could jeopardize a vital strategic asset between the United Kingdom and the United States about which, Great Britain he argued, had legitimately secured long-term sovereignty. Failure to do so would put Britain’s reputation as a defender of a rules-based international order at risk of coming under increasing pressure. The decision of the conservative government to start negotiations in 2022 It’s understandable.
The resulting agreement, however, was imperfect. Mauritius is almost 1,400 miles from Chagos and has no real ties beyond the fact that both territories were transferred from France to Britain in 1814. Although the Chagossians will gain the right of return, they were not involved in the negotiations and some wanted self-government.
Britain will reportedly pay billions of pounds to Mauritius for Diego Garcia’s 99-year lease and in financial support and infrastructure investment. But critics in the United States and the United Kingdom worry that Mauritius could in future be persuaded to scrap the lease in favor of China, which has been courting it, or allow Beijing to establish a presence in another of the islands.
The British Labor government may have been too optimistic in rushing to close a deal weeks before a possible change of administration in the United States, and with a Mauritian government that already looked set to bow out in the November election. The new Mauritian leader, Navin Ramgoolam, demanded more concessions.
Senior UK officials note that Biden White House endorsed the deal. They say they have heard no direct objections from the incoming US administration, although Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, said in October that the deal posed a “serious threat” to US national security.
A pause is now inevitable. It gives the UK and US time to ensure that the leasing arrangements around the Diego Garcia base are as legally airtight as possible and that the Chagossians are properly consulted. But for now British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer finds himself in a bind: caught between his good intentions and geopolitical realities.