The Chagos Islands and the ceding of sovereignty to Mauritius. OP ED by Bill Rammell, Chief Executive of Parallel Histories.

In writing about the history of the Chagos Islands I declare something of an interest. In a former life I was a UK Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Chagos Islands within.

The history of the Chagos Islands and the Chagossian people is an indelible stain on the UK’s colonial past and a charged legacy of Empire. And it reverberates today with the UK Mauritius deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and the lease back for the military base in Diego Garcia. (One of the Chagos Islands).

Mauritius and the Chagos Islands were part of the British Empire, but in 1965, prior to Mauritius achieving independence in 1968, and with the agreement of the Mauritius Council of Ministers, the islands of the Chagos Archipelago were detached for a fee of £3 million from Mauritius to form part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Territory was created to provide for the defence needs of both Britain and the United States through a military base in Diego Garcia. Mauritius claims that it was illegally forced to give away the islands in order to get independence from the UK.

And here comes the indelible stain on the UK’s record of colonial rule-From 1967 to 1973 under Labour and then Conservative Governments, the Chagossian people (Some 10,000 in total) were forcibly removed from the Chagos islands to Mauritius and the Seychelles, from where their families originated. So, no Chagossian have lived on the Chagos Islands for over 50 years.

Human Rights Watch claims that UK official Government documents, now public, reveal the lies and racism that laid the foundation of this crime (their words), with UK Ministers and officials at the time denying that the Chagossians existed.

And the vast majority of the Chagossians automatically acquired Mauritian or Seychelles citizenship when those countries achieved independence. In addition the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 gave a large number of them British Citizenship. This gives then the right to live in the UK, and there is a sizeable Chagossian community in Crawley, near Gatwick Airport.

In reparation for the forced relocation of the Chagossians, the UK Government made an ex-gratia payment of £4 million (about £18 million today) for the benefit of the Chagossian community in Mauritius.

The Chargossians continued to campaign to be allowed to return to the Chagos Islands, which they saw as their homeland. However, the British Government commissioned a feasibility study by independent experts to examine and report on the prospects for re-establishing a viable community in the outer islands of the territory. This study concluded, “…that whilst it may be feasible to resettle the islands in the short-term, the costs of maintaining long-term inhabitation are likely to be prohibitive.

The British Government concluded from the study that anything other than short-term resettlement on a purely subsistence basis would be highly precarious and would involve expensive underwriting by the UK Government for an open-ended period-probably permanently.

The UK Government determined therefore that resettlement of the Chagos Islands should not be permitted and legislated to prevent this.

All the while the US/UK military base on Diego Garcia continued.

Scroll forward to recent weeks. The last remnant of Empire (the Chagos Islands) has been ended with sovereignty transfering to Mauritius under a deal negotiated by our current Labour Government. (But started by its Conservative predecessor). Within the agreement is a 99-year lease for the military base in Diego Garcia to continue to function unimpeded, with foreign powers not allowed on any of the islands. The UK Government believes this base is vital for UK defence and security and has paid £101 million a year for this leaseback, roughly 0.2% of the UK defence budget.

The UK Government decided to cede sovereignty because it believes a UN International Court of Justice ruling that the UK should end its administration of the Chagos Islands as rapidly as possible, made its tenure in Diego Garcia untenable. Although this court ruling was advisory, the UK Government believes its effect (and the way other nations would respond to it) would be to make the military base on Diego Garcia inoperable.

But what has been extraordinarily striking around all of this in recent weeks in media coverage and political responses, is the degree to which the legacy of Empire still resonates powerfully today. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Leader has said, “Only Keir Starmer’s Labour would negotiate a deal where we’re paying to give something away.” As if continuing with colonisation (the forcible occupation and control of a nation state) in 2025 is acceptable.

And questions about the deal abound. Is it ever feasible for the Chagossians to return to the Chagos Islands, and who will pay for that? Should the Chagossian communities have been fully consulted, even though they have no nation and Government to consult? Perhaps most tellingly, should the Chagossians receive more compensation?

Whatever your view on these issues, understanding is enhanced through exposure to and immersion in the contested histories of the Chagos Islands.

Just as we do through Parallel Histories where we give school students the opportunity to think critically, to analyse and debate contested history. Helping students navigate sensitive topics by going back to historical sources when investigating the causes of conflict. Our dual narrative approach provides the starting point for investigation into the historical controversy as each side tells it, first from one position then from the other. Students learn how to question historical claims and identify the difference between proportionate and disproportionate claims.

And our understanding of the history of the Chagos Islands and the ceding of sovereignty to Mauritius really could benefit from that.

As could our understanding of the contested history of the British Empire more generally. This will be explored in the forthcoming Parallel Histories’ eBook series on the impact and legacy of British Empire.

Bill Rammell is a former Labour Minister and University Vice Chancellor and now Chief Executive of Parallel Histories.