Today, 12 March, is Independence Day in Mauritius, marking 57 years since it declared itself independent from Britain in 1968. Yet decolonisation was never fully completed. A few years earlier, in 1965, the British government put islands belonging to Mauritius – the Chagos Islands – into a new colonial jurisdiction, the British Indian Ocean Territory, which still exists today.
This was at the request of the USA, who wanted to build a military base on the largest islands, Diego Garcia. As described by this piece: “The reason for this demand by the US Administration was the plan to build a large US military base of geostrategic importance in the middle of the Indian Ocean – which was subsequently to become a centre for crimes against humanity, since it later provided infrastructure both for the illegal wars waged by the USA and for the torture flights.”
The inhabitants – the Chagossians, who had lived on the islands for centuries – were deported. This was to prevent any claim or attempt to decolonise the Islands. Chagossian deportees, in the words of Benjamin Zephaniah (who was patron of the Chagos Support Association), “were dumped on the docks of Mauritius and Seychelles.” They were promised compensation that for many – like those who were moved to the Seychelles – never came. For those in Mauritius, the meagre compensation came only a decade later.
Today Chagossians and their descendants still endure the repercussions of this and surveys show that the vast majority would like to return.
After decades of pressure by civil society as well as disputes brought by Mauritius in the UN justice system, the UK Government announced in October 2024 that it would finally return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. An interim deal, which would retain the key UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, was agreed, building on work that began under the Conservative government. However, civil society groups such as Chagossian Voices say they were not consulted.
Ignoring earlier judgements, most recently in 2019, Britain denied the Chassogians the internationally recognised right to self-determination. Now the UK Government must follow through with the agreement on its last African de-colonisation and to do so having given voice to all the Chaggossian people.