My Take | Chagos islanders should, at last, be allowed to return to their home
It remains to be seen if UK’s ‘handover’ of the islands brings justice to the former inhabitants. Their well-being should be the priority
The sun, it was said, never sets on the British Empire. But it has long since dropped below the horizon, as the number of British territories dwindles.
Last week, it was revealed that another colony, described as the last in Africa, is to be given up by the UK. A treaty will provide for the “handover” of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
A peaceful resolution of a dispute that spanned decades and highlighted one of the most disgraceful episodes in Britain’s post-war colonial history is long overdue. It was required by international law.
But whether the deal will bring justice for former inhabitants of the islands, who were forced to leave in the 1960s and 70s to make way for a UK-US airbase, remains open to question. Their well-being should now be the priority.
Britain will, under the agreement, retain control of the island hosting the strategically important military base, used by US bombers, for 99 years. It argues this provides clarity and safeguards security.
The Chagos Islands were occupied by Britain in 1814 and it has claimed sovereignty over them ever since. They were split from Mauritius in 1965, three years before it was granted independence, and became the British Indian Ocean Territory. Britain struck a secret deal with the US to establish the airbase on Diego Garcia.
