UK Misses Chagos Islands Deadline

A diplomatic row between Mauritius and the UK is threatening to simmer after Britain failed to hand the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), also known as the Chagos Islands, back to Mauritius.

In May the United Nations (UN) had given the UK six months to hand the islands over, after voting overwhelmingly in favour of Britain to do so, 116 votes for to just six against.

But Britain denies Mauritius has any claim to the islands, and it’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been emphatic in making clear the UK’s intention of keeping the archipelago.

“The UK has no doubt as to our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814.

“Mauritius has never held any sovereignty over the BIOT and the UK does not recognise its claim”, the FCO said in a statement.

The row over the Chagos Islands dates back to when Britain granted Mauritius its independence in 1960s.

The islands were split from Mauritius, and Britain bought them for £3 million, creating the BIOT in 1965.

When Mauritius was granted its independence three years later in 1968, the BIOT remained in British hands, but Mauritius claims it was forced to give up the Chagos Islands in exchange for its independence.

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jagnauth claims now the deadline has passed, the UK is an illegal colonial occupier.

It is not quite clear yet what, if any ramifications will follow for the UK, as the deadline set by the UN was discretionary, rather than binding, but it could see itself slowly being pushed out of UN institutions it has traditionally seen as very important.

The BIOT are of great strategic importance and is home to a US military base on one of its islands, Diego Garcia.

From Diego Garcia the US has launched bombing raids into Afghanistan and Iraq, and was supposedly used as a “black site” by the CIA to interrogate and possibly torture terror suspects.