Chagos Archipelago Continues to be a Sensitive Issue between Mauritius, UK and US

(3 Minutes Read)

The islands, however, carry a dark history: between 1968 and 1973, between 1500 and 1800 islanders – descendants of enslaved people from Mozambique and Madagascar and indentured labourers from India – were forcibly removed by the UK.

The sovereignty and control of the Chagos Archipelago, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), has emerged as a focal point in the evolving relationship between the UK and the US.

Central to this issue is Diego Garcia, a 17-square-mile horseshoe-shaped atoll and the largest and southernmost island in the archipelago, which hosts a strategically important UK-US military base that serves as a crucial hub for US military operations in the Middle East, intelligence gathering and global communications networks. Under British control since the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the archipelago remained a UK territory.

The islands, however, carry a dark history: between 1968 and 1973, between 1500 and 1800 islanders – descendants of enslaved people from Mozambique and Madagascar and indentured labourers from India – were forcibly removed by the UK. Most were relocated to Mauritius – with whom the Chagos Islands shared a colonial administrative unit – where they were left destitute at the Port Louis dockside.

Read Also:

https://trendsnafrica.com/port-of-mauritius-to-charge-levies-to-decongest/

In recent years, legal and political momentum has gathered behind Mauritius’ claims to the islands, which is rooted in their shared colonial administration.