The United Kingdom agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to the Republic of Mauritius, ending years of dispute over Britain’s last African colony, The Guardian reported.
Britain expelled the Chagossians in the 1960s and 1970s when it retained possession of what it called the British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT, after Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres (1,100 nautical miles) off the southeast coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It is known for its beaches, lagoons and reefs.
The agreement was the result of rounds of negotiations that began in 2022 after Mauritius’ sovereignty arguments were recognised by the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN General Assembly and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2019 and 2021.
The UK was found guilty of illegally separating the Chagos Islands from Mauritius before granting independence in 1968. Britain initially ignored UN votes and court judgements demanding the return of the islands, emphasising that the ICJ ruling was only an “advisory opinion.”
