A deal on the disputed Chagos Islands faces more hurdles. Here's what to know

LONDON – The governments of Britain and Mauritius person reached a last woody to settee the aboriginal of the Chagos Islands, the contested archipelago successful the mediate of the Indian Ocean that's location to a strategically important U.S. subject base.

But they person been barred from signing it, astatine slightest temporarily, by a British judge.

The statement would transportation sovereignty of the Chagos Islands from the U.K. to Mauritius — though Britain would clasp power of the largest of the concatenation of islands, Diego Garcia, which hosts the American naval and bomber base.

The 2 countries reached an archetypal agreement successful October, but it was enactment connected clasp aft Britain said it had to wait for the support of U.S. President Donald Trump. The woody besides became stuck aft a alteration of authorities successful Mauritius, amid quarrels implicit however overmuch wealth the U.K. should wage for the lease of Diego Garcia. The U.S. pays Britain an unspecified magnitude to run the base.

Here's what to cognize astir the disputed islands.

What are the Chagos Islands and wherefore are they contested?

The distant concatenation of much than 60 islands is located successful the mediate of the Indian Ocean disconnected the extremity of India, southbound of the Maldives.

The Chagos Islands person been nether British power since 1814, erstwhile they were ceded by France.

The archipelago is champion known for the subject basal connected Diego Garcia, which has supported U.S. subject operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the U.S. acknowledged it besides had been utilized for clandestine rendition flights of panic suspects.

Britain divided the Chagos Islands distant from Mauritius, a erstwhile British colony, successful 1965, 3 years earlier Mauritius gained independence, and called the Chagos archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In the 1960s and 1970s Britain evicted arsenic galore arsenic 2,000 people from the islands truthful the U.S. subject could physique the Diego Garcia base.

The U.S. has described the base, which is location to astir 2,500 mostly American personnel, arsenic “an each but indispensable platform” for information operations successful the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.

Most recently, the U.S. deployed respective nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit bombers to Diego Garcia amid an aggravated airstrike run targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

In caller years disapproval grew implicit Britain's power of the archipelago and the mode it forcibly displaced the section population. The United Nations and the International Court of Justice person some urged Britain to extremity its “colonial administration” of the islands and transportation their sovereignty to Mauritius.

What is successful the woody and wherefore was it delayed?

In October Britain's authorities announced that it was finalizing details of a pact to manus sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, with the objection of Diego Garcia, which volition stay nether British power for astatine slightest 99 years.

The woody was hailed by then-U.S. President Joe Biden arsenic a “historic agreement” that secured the aboriginal of the Diego Garcia base. But Britain's absorption Conservatives slammed the authorities for surrendering power of the territory, saying that the determination exposed the U.K. and its allies to information threats. Last twelvemonth the now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio besides said it posed “a superior threat” to U.S. nationalist security.

In January, Britain’s authorities confirmed that the Trump medication was reviewing a renegotiated deal, without providing details.

In February, Trump suggested helium was successful favour of the statement erstwhile helium met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer successful Washington.

Meanwhile voters successful Mauritius ousted the government that made the deal, and caller Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam backed distant from it, citing fiscal concerns.

Ramgoolam suggested that the archetypal woody — which would reportedly spot the U.K. wage 90 cardinal pounds ($116 million) a twelvemonth to Mauritius for the continued cognition of the Diego Garcia subject basal — was a “sellout." The U.K. authorities has not disclosed however overmuch it volition wage to lease the base.

After much negotiations, a last woody was acceptable to beryllium signed by the 2 countries' leaders connected Thursday.

But hours earlier the ceremony, a High Court justice imposed an injunction stopping the handover. Judge Julian Goose ordered the British authorities "to support the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom implicit the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order.”

What does the woody mean

for displaced islanders?

An estimated 10,000 displaced Chagossians and their descendants present unrecorded chiefly successful Britain, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Many of them privation to instrumentality to the islands, and immoderate person fought unsuccessfully successful U.K. courts for galore years for the close to spell home.

Chagossians accidental they were near retired of the governmental negotiations, which person near them unclear connected whether they and their descendants could ever beryllium allowed to instrumentality to their homeland.

Human Rights Watch has said that Britain's forced displacement of the Chagossians and ongoing refusal to fto them spell location “amount to crimes against humanity committed by a assemblage powerfulness against an Indigenous people.”

The draught woody stated a resettlement money would beryllium created for displaced islanders to assistance them determination backmost to the islands, isolated from Diego Garcia. But details of however that volition enactment stay sketchy.

Two Chagossian women, Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, challenged the handover woody successful the British courts. They reason it volition go adjacent harder to instrumentality erstwhile Mauritius takes power of the islands.

Thursday's tribunal injunction was granted successful effect to their application.

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