The deal follows years of negotiations over the future of the Chagos Islands, one of which is home to a crucial joint UK and US military base.
The UK would return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending a decades-long dispute over the future of the former British territory, the two countries announced in a joint statement on Thursday.
A caveat to the deal remains the island of Diego Garcia, which the UK and US use as a military base.
The two governments agreed that the island would remain under the jurisdiction of the UK and the US for the next 99 years to ensure its continued operation.
The UK and Mauritius celebrated the announcement as “a seminal moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law.”
The Chagos Islands are a series of 60 remote isles strategically clustered across the Indian Ocean.
Once part of the British colony of Mauritius, London purchased the archipelago from Mauritius in 1968 as part of its decolonisation process. However, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advised the UK government in 2019 that this was unlawful.
The UK defied the advisory ruling that it was “under obligation” to relinquish control, emphasising that it was not binding.
Diego Garcia and the ‘wrongs of the past’
The military base on the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia was a sticking point in the deal. Almost 1,500 residents were evicted in the 1970s in order to make way for its creation, in a move Human Rights Watch condemned as a “crime against humanity”.
The agreement said it aimed to “address wrongs of the past” laying out hope that those who were evicted and their descendants, who are now mainly living in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles, would have the right to return to the islands.
It added that the Republic of Mauritius would now be free to implement a resettlement programme for those formerly evicted, although this would exclude Diego Garcia.
The US Navy base at Diego Garcia was built in the 1970s and provides what American authorities have described as “an all but indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
The UK government said that without the deal, the secure operation of the military base would be under threat.
Both the UK and the US heralded the agreement, which UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said would, “shut down any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK, as well as guarantee our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner.”
US President Joe Biden called the agreement “historic”, adding that the Diego Garcia base was vital in preserving “national, regional, and global security.”
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