In October 2024, the United Kingdom announced that it plans to transfer the Chagos Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean (also known as British Indian Ocean Territory), to the Republic of Mauritius in the near future, after negotiations between the two countries are officially over. Mauritius has laid territorial claims to the islands since gaining independence in 1968.
After numerous appeals to international institutions and two years of bilateral negotiations, the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the islands to Mauritius, contingent on maintaining British-American control over the joint military base at Diego Garcia Atoll. According to the International Court of Justice ruling, welcomed by the UN General Assembly on February 25, 2019, the forced removal of the indigenous population from the island was unlawful, with the final status of the affected people still unresolved. Currently, negotiations are ongoing between London and Port Louis regarding the status of the archipelago and compensation for the wrongful actions taken by the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s.
Following the relocation of the indigenous population, the entire territory of the Chagos Archipelago effectively lost its permanent residents, with the islands regularly inhabited only by British and U.S. military personnel up to the present day.
Caught Between Three Fires: Contradictions in the Current Status of the Archipelago
In October 2024, the UK House of Commons stated that diplomatic processes to determine the status of the Chagos Archipelago may continue further into 2025, with the results expected to be presented as a treaty for ratification by Parliament. In his statement on October 7, 2024, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy also mentioned that the decision regarding territorial changes was reached “after two years of negotiations and decades of disagreement on this matter,” emphasizing that the treaty with Mauritius has “not yet been signed or ratified.”
The negotiation process will need to feature the positions of at least four key parties: the United Kingdom, the Republic of Mauritius, the United States, which also has access to the military base on Diego Garcia Atoll and holds its own security concerns regarding the Indian Ocean, and the indigenous populations of the Chagos Archipelago, also known as the Ilois.
Diego Garcia Atoll is the key point in the debate over the Chagos Archipelago and the primary interest of both the United Kingdom and the United States. The base’s operations began in the 1970s to accommodate and service military ships and long-range aircraft. Its strategic importance lies in its location, at the intersection of key maritime routes between the Suez Canal, India and its neighboring islands, Indonesia, Singapore, and China. Both London and Washington have stated that under any circumstances, the strategic site must remain under their control, with access to the island restricted for the permanent population restricted.
Prior to Mauritius being granted independence, the Chagos Archipelago was separated from the territory under the colonial administration and formed into a distinct entity within the United Kingdom, preserving this status until now.
According to Mauritius, the High Court of the United Kingdom, and the International Court of Justice, the Ilois are the indigenous community of the Chagos Archipelago that was unlawfully displaced between 1968 and 1973 to “free up the space” of the islands for British-American use. According to the Minority rights Group, the entire indigenous population of Chagos (around 2,000 people) was forcibly relocated, with most sent to Mauritius (around 1,200 people) or other British territories. The social issues faced by the displaced Chagossians, who were forced to leave their homeland, are exacerbated by the conditions they faced during the first years after relocation. Most of the community faced severe domestic and financial difficulties, and the assistance required for their integration into Mauritian society was largely left in the hands of the local government.
This became known after a 1975 investigation by The Washington Post, which raised questions about the legality of Britain’s actions. Today, the rights of the Chagossian people are defended by the civil society organization “Chagossian Voices,” which unites the illegally relocated Ilois and their descendants worldwide. Following the announcement regarding the transfer of the archipelago, the Chagossian community living in Britain, with the support of Chagossian Voices, has widely expressed its dissatisfaction with the lack of consultation with the Ilois in the matter of transferring sovereignty over the archipelago.
The political struggle of the Chagossians has never been one-sided. The legitimacy of the United Kingdom’s actions has repeatedly been raised in United Nations General Assembly resolutions— specifically on December 19, 1967; and May 22, 2019. The text of these documents expresses “concern over the detachment of Chagos from Mauritius,” reaffirms “the inseparability of the archipelago from Mauritius,” and, in the latest resolution, calls for “the cessation of colonial administration of the territories.”
Meanwhile, Washington refrains from delving into the broader political situation concerning the entire Diego Garcia issue, strictly concentrating on the matter of the military base instead. The U.S. has fully supported the agreement between Mauritius and the United Kingdom, noting the importance of granting the permanent residents of the archipelago access to the atoll’s territories while leaving the Diego Garcia base under British-American jurisdiction.
Major regional players, nevertheless, were quite tacit in their reactions. One might think that a change in the territorial status of this strategically important location could provoke reactions from leaders of powerhouses in the region. However, most countries in South and Southeast Asia have, much like the rest of the world, maintained restraint in commenting on the Chagos issue. Major local actors like China, and Indonesia have either reacted minimally or offered no comment at all.
With a relative silence on the matter of the territorial transition on the international stage, our attention is drawn to the statement given by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on October 3, 2024, asserting that India has long supported the sovereignty of Mauritius and is ready to work with it and other partners to enhance security in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, a recent statement by Mauritius’ Prime Minister on January 21, 2025, expressed “a desire to cooperate more closely with China” while simultaneously rejecting Beijing’s military ambitions concerning the Chagos Archipelago. What is particularly interesting about this statement is the practical absence of such publicly expressed ambitions from the Chinese side.
The UK Foreign Office has preliminarily stated that the agreement between London and Port Louis may include cooperation in areas such as national security, environmental protection, and combating illegal economic activities. Additionally, it has been announced that financial compensation will be provided for the use of Diego Garcia’s infrastructure to service the military base, along with the creation of a sovereign fund to support the well-being of the Chagossian population. However, it has been emphasized that access to the atoll will remain restricted.
What Changes Can the Region Expect?
While negotiations on the details of the Chagos’ status continue, regional trends are emerging in the context of this dispute: the questioning of the authority and, in this case, even the legitimacy, of Western presence in South Asia, the struggle against British and American influence, and the shifting foreign policy orientations of smaller regional actors. The region is nowadays tending towards a strategic change of alliances, potentially including ones with India and China. Even though it is worth mentioning that each of Mauritius’ potential allies the current government tends to build different kinds of relations, namely a broad political affiliation with the former and mostly trade deals with the latter.
An unresolved aspect of the issue is the official status of the Ilois. Understandably, the indigenous Chagossians welcomed the decision of the territorial transfer. However, the Chagossian Voices movement still lacks consistent representation on the political stage, inhibiting a dialogue with the governments of Mauritius and the United Kingdom regarding the challenges the indigenous people will face in returning to their homeland. However, both the Ilois and Mauritian government will face the task of settling the region “from scratch,” and building the necessary civil infrastructure for its new permanent residents. This challenge explains the current administration’s increased economic dependency on China. However, it should remain vigilant to ensure that in its attempt to free itself from the manipulative influence of one nation, it does not fall under similar influence from another.
Undoubtedly, the metamorphosis of the Chagos Archipelago is just one component of a broader political trend in the post-colonial world. Nevertheless, it serves as an important reminder to the international community that even territorial conflicts of this kind can be resolved primarily by diplomatic measures, without escalating into social contradictions and inter-state threats.
By Artem Rybalchenko
March 18, 2025
