The News
The UK government on Thursday signed a deal ceding control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, possibly settling decades of dispute over the strategic archipelago.
The deal had stalled after last-minute legal action by a Chagossian group campaigning for former residents to be allowed back on the islands: Hundreds of Chagossians were removed in the 1960s to make way for a UK-US military base on the largest island. The new deal does not allow them to return to living on the island.
Sovereignty of the Chagos Islands has long been disputed: The International Court of Justice ruled that the islands belonged to Mauritius in 2019, but they had remained under British control as the UK considers it a strategic asset in the Indian Ocean against Chinese aggression. The UK will lease the military base from Mauritius under the deal.