UK signs Chagos Islands deal

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has signed a deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back a key military base for £101m a year, reports BBC News. The treaty comes into effect only after it is approved by both the Mauritian and UK Parliaments. Starmer said the deal was the only way to maintain the base's long-term future and strengthened the UK's national security. Under the terms of the agreement, Mauritius would gain sovereignty of the islands from the UK, but allow the US and UK to continue operating a military base on one of the islands, Diego Garcia, for an initial period of 99 years. The Conservatives described the deal as an act of national self-harm, which left the UK ‘more exposed to China’ because of its ties with Mauritius. The UK signed the agreement after overcoming a last-minute legal challenge brought by two Chagossians. The UK purchased the islands for £3m in 1968, but Mauritius has argued it was illegally forced to give away the islands in order to get independence from Britain. The islands were then cleared to make way for a UK-US armed forces base with large groups of Chagossians moving to Mauritius and the Seychelles, or taking up an invitation to settle in England, mainly in Crawley, West Sussex.

The government said it would pay Mauritius an average of £101m a year for 99 years, which Starmer said amounted to a ‘net cost’ of £3.4bn after adjusting for factors including inflation. The Prime Minister told a news conference the UK had to ‘act now’ or face Mauritian legal action that could interfere with the Diego Garcia base, notes the BBC News report. Starmer said US President Donald Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies, because 'they see the strategic importance of this base' and that ‘we cannot cede the ground to others who would seek to do us harm’. The deal sets a 24-mile buffer around Diego Garcia, where nothing can be built without UK consent. Foreign military and civilian forces will also be barred from other islands in the archipelago, with the UK retaining a power to veto any access to the islands. There is also an option to extend the lease by 40 further years, if agreed by both sides.

Full BBC News report