Britain has announced that it will give up its last colony in Africa. You may never have heard of the Chagos islands, but the archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean has massive strategic importance and has been at the center of a diplomatic dispute for decades. Now, Britain has agreed to hand sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. But Diego Garcia – home to a military base used by the UK and US – will remain in British and American hands for the next 99 years.
The Chagos Islands have been at the heart of what Britain has called the British Indian Ocean Territory since 1965, when they were detached from Mauritius, as the former British colony gained independence. In the early 1970s, Britain evicted almost 2,000 residents to make way for an airbase on the largest island – Diego Garcia – which it leased to the United States in 1966.
00:00 UK returns Chagos Islands to Mauritius
00:59 Interview with Yuan Yi Zhu
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