The Chagos Islands has been used by the UK and US as an important military base (Picture: History/Universal Images Group)
The UK will not sign off on a deal to give up a top secret island to Mauritius until Donald Trump has taken office, Downing Street has said.
The islands, located in the Indian Ocean, have been the subject of years of arguments and negotiations between the UK and Mauritius.
In October, the Government announced that Mauritius will be sovereign over the Chagos islands, and then lease back the Diego Garcia military base.
But allies of US president-elect Donald Trump have been critical of the deal because of the implications for the strategically important military base.
In an update today, Downing Street said it was ‘obviously now right’ for Mr Trump’s administration to consider any deal.
‘We will only agree to a deal that is in the UK’s best interests and protects our national security,’ the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
He steered away from suggestions Mr Trump would now have a ‘veto’ on the deal, and also said: ‘It is perfectly reasonable for the new US administration to actually consider the detail and we will obviously have those discussions with them.’
Why are they so mysterious?
The Chagos Islands have been strictly out of bounds since 1973 when the UK and US took it over to use as a military base.
The islands have been shrouded in secrecy ever since Chagossians were forced to leave, in what has been considered the most shameful part of modern colonial British history.
This includes the tropical ring island of Diego Garcia, which is home to navy ships and long-range bomber aircrafts, and sits on the list of the world’s most remote pieces of land.
There are no commercial flights and permits for boats are only granted for the outer islands.
Only people with connects to the military facility are granted access, and journalists have always been barred from gaining access.
Rumours have also circulated Diego Garcia was used as a CIA black-site – a facility used to interrogate terror suspects.
The islands have been shrouded in secrecy ever since Chagossians were forced to leave to make way for the base in 1973 (Picture: History/Universal Images Group)
Chagossians who have spent decades fighting for the right to their land back have finally been successful.
But the BBC reports cinemas, bowling alleys and even a gift shop have all been built on the island to go alongside the military base.
The Foreign Office said the agreement means the status of the military base will be undisputed and legally secure.
But the Diego Garcia has seen a small number of migrants arrived and launch asylum claims since 2021.
Migrants have been stranded on the island for three years, and complex legal battles are being held to rule whether they have unlawfully detained.
Why have the Chagos Islands been handed to Mauritius?
For a tiny group of atolls comprising just over 20 square miles of land in the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Islands have a long and contentious history.
The first inhabitants were slaves brought over by the French in the 18th century, and the territory was handed over by France to the British as part of Mauritius in 1814.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the Chagossians were forced to leave their homes to make way for a US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
Since then, there have been several court battles between former residents of the archipelago and the British government, who refused to let them return.
While Mauritius has never controlled the Chagos Islands as a sovereign state – it only gained independence in 1968, when the UK kept control of the atolls – the country has claimed them as its territory.
Despite anger from the Conservatives over yesterday’s announcement, the negotiations to hand Mauritius control of the islands began while the Tories were in government.
But it’s unclear who precisely started the process after former PMs and foreign secretaries pointed their fingers at each other.
James Cleverly criticised the deal as ‘weak, weak, weak’ yesterday, before it emerged he had initiated talks when he led the Foreign Office.
However, his team placed the blame at the feet of Liz Truss, saying she had asked him to begin negotiations during her brief spell as Prime Minister.
But Truss’s spokesman fired back by accusing then-PM Boris Johnson of telling her to raise the issue with the Mauritian leader at COP26 while she was foreign secretary, adding she was ‘absolutely clear that we would and should never cede the territory’.
The United Nations’ highest court ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was ‘unlawful’ (Picture: History/Universal Images Group)
In October, a joint statement was issued by the Uk Government and Republic of Mauritius, confirming a deal had been struck.
‘Today’s political agreement is subject to the finalisation of a treaty and supporting legal instruments, which both sides have committed to complete as quickly as possible,’ the statement said.
‘Under the terms of this treaty the United Kingdom will agree that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia.
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‘At the same time, both our countries are committed to the need, and will agree in the treaty, to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia which plays a vital role in regional and global security.
The UK will pay a regular annual sum of money during the agreement (Picture: History/Universal Images Group)
‘For an initial period of 99 years, the United Kingdom will be authorised to exercise with respect to Diego Garcia the sovereign rights and authorities of Mauritius required to ensure the continued operation of the base well into the next century.’
It added that the UK will pay a regular annual sum of money during the agreement and there will be funding to help benefit Chagossians.
Mauritius would be responsible for any future arrivals under the new agreement.
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