It was Africa’s last British colony: the Chacos Archipelago in the center of the Indian Ocean. The ring-shaped archipelago, surrounded by lush vegetation and long white-sand beaches, has been the subject of decades of legal and diplomatic wrangling — and a protracted fight for justice by the original inhabitants.
On Thursday, after years of negotiations, the British government announced an agreement with Mauritius to partially return sovereignty to the archipelago, which had been under British control since Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
While the move could be a break from Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tendency to pay more attention to international law with previous British governments, it is questionable whether the rights of indigenous peoples have actually been restored, as he has previously declared. .
Bitter history
The seven atolls (ring-shaped islands) and more than sixty individual islands of the Chacos archipelago have a sordid history. Beginning in the 1960s, British authorities deported large sections of the region’s indigenous population to make way for a US-British naval base on the largest island, Diego Garcia. In what was considered a crime against humanity, the British forcibly evicted 1,500 Chakosians from their homes. They were left to fend for themselves in Mauritius and Seychelles.
The deal was hailed as historic by many British media and welcomed by US President Joe Biden. However, there are criticisms from human rights organizations. As part of the agreement, the United Kingdom, for a fee, included an agreement to retain sovereignty over Diego Garcia for 99 years. Precisely that element prompted the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) to be sharp in its criticism.
“This agreement claims to address injustices against the Chakosians but appears to perpetuate the crimes,” Clive Baldwin, HRW’s legal counsel, responded in writing. NRC. The human rights organization speaks of a “continuing colonial crime” because the Chakosians will be estranged from Diego Garcia for at least “a century”.
The agreement claims to address injustices against the Chakosians, but appears to perpetuate the crimes.
According to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Diego Garcia base is exempt from the agreement because it is important to “global security and protection against illegal migration routes in the Indian Ocean”. The US government emphasized its “vital role in national, regional and global security”.
The Chakosian community feels excluded from the decision-making process that led to the deal. In a statement, Sagosian Voices, a Native advocacy group, wrote that it felt “powerless and voiceless” after learning the details of the deal through the media. The Chakosians see themselves as persistently and willfully neglected and demand full involvement in the drafting of the treaty.
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The Chacos Islands are part of a geopolitical game and are under Mauritian rule
Although the United Kingdom has for years maintained that the islands have been under British control since the nineteenth century, it has recently recognized that Mauritius has a legitimate claim. In a non-binding 2019 judgment, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) unanimously ruled that the UK never had legal sovereignty over the islands and insisted on their immediate return.
Resettlement Fund
Mauritius’ call for emerging nation sovereignty has received support in recent years from international legal institutions, the United Nations and the international community. Some BBC analysts point to Brexit as a factor in Britain’s declining international standing and influence on such issues.
Although the expelled Chakosians have the right to return to the remaining islands under the agreement, and a ‘relocation fund’ is set up for them, it is unclear whether they will be able to return in the short term. Large areas of the islands are currently uninhabitable and require significant investments to make them habitable again.
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In the last British colony you could still be deported like an animal in 1973
