UK, Mauritius near Chagos Islands deal after US signals its consent

Britain and Mauritius are finalising a deal to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, a disputed UK territory that is home to a major US military base, the UK government said Tuesday.

The government signalled that President Donald Trump's administration, which was consulted on the deal, has given its approval and no further action is needed from the US.

We are working with the Mauritian government to finalise and sign the treaty, said Tom Wells, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Once signed it will be laid before both houses of Parliament for scrutiny and for ratification.

Britain and Mauritius have been negotiating a deal for the UK to hand over the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. The UK would then lease back the base for at least 99 years.

 

But the deal has faced criticism from the opposition Conservative Party and from some allies of Trump. Last year the now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it posed a serious threat to US national security.

Trump indicated during a visit to Washington by Starmer in February that he would support the deal, saying: I have a feeling it's going to work out very well.

Britain split the islands away from Mauritius, a former British colony, in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence, and called the Chagos archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In the 1960s and 1970s Britain evicted up to 2,000 people from the islands so the US military could build the Diego Garcia base.

Mauritius has long contested Britain's claim to the archipelago and in recent years the United Nations and its top court have urged Britain to return the Chagos to Mauritius.

Britain agreed to do so in a draft deal in October, but that has been delayed by a change of government in Mauritius and reported quarrels over how much the UK should pay for the lease of the Diego Garcia air base.

The Chagos islanders, many of whom relocated to Britain, say they were not consulted over the agreement. Under the draft deal, a resettlement fund would be created to help displaced islanders move back to the islands, apart from Diego Garcia. Details of any such measures remain unclear.

Two Chagossian women are seeking to take the UK government to court over the issue. Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, both British citizens, fear it will become even harder to go back to live where they were born once Mauritius takes control of the islands.