Explainer Series
Indo-Pacific Explainer:
The Chagos dispute
On 3 October 2024, the UK government announced it will cede sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, ending an almost 60-year dispute between the two countries. Significantly, the deal includes the island of Diego Garcia, home to an important US military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
What was the
dispute about?
↗ At the height of the Cold War in 1965, the UK detached the Chagos archipelago from its then-colony of Mauritius, three years before Mauritius gained its independence in 1968. The UK renamed the archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory, and leased the island of Diego Garcia to the US in return for a US$14 million discount on Polaris nuclear missiles.
As part of its agreement with the US, the UK forcibly removed around 1,500 Chagossians (descendants of enslaved African people) from across the archipelago. They were relocated to the main island of Mauritius and nearby Seychelles, where they lived in poverty. Over the decades, Chagossians have repeatedly called for the UK to allow them to return home.
