On October 3rd, the United Kingdom and Mauritius reached a historic agreement that restores the right of forcibly evicted residents to return to the Chagos Islands, while also affirming Mauritius’s sovereignty over the archipelago. This landmark agreement includes a 99-year lease for the Diego Garcia military base, allowing continued US and UK presence on the atoll.
While this breakthrough addresses decades of injustice, it also prompts urgent discussion about the equitable resettlement of the Chagossian community and untangling decades of policies designed to deny their right to return. As Chagossians seek to reclaim their homeland, it is essential to navigate the complexities of their cultural heritage and historical rights, ensuring their voices shape the future of the archipelago.
In the 1960s, the US and UK agreed to build a military base on Diego Garcia, one of 60 islands comprising the archipelago. In 1965, amid discussions with Mauritius over independence, the UK separated Chagos from Mauritius, declaring it the British Indian Ocean Territory. As part of this declaration, the UK reported to the United Nations that there was no living population on the islands. Over the next eight years, the UK would expel the entire population.
Between 1967 and 1973, the British government forcibly evicted 1,500 Chagossians from the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and Seychelles. Human Rights Watch has described the eviction as amounting to, “crimes against humanity committed by a colonial power against an indigenous people.” Between 1971 and 1975, 1 in 40 Chagossians died from starvation, disease, and suicide.
The British government has repeatedly fought to deny Chagossians their right to return. One form this has taken is the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA). In April 2010, the UK established the Chagos MPA without consulting Mauritius or Chagossians. It covers 544,000 sq. kilometers, nearly double the size of the United Kingdom, and establishes a no-take zone where all fishing is banned.
The Chagos Islands appear to be an ideal location for conservation, offering sanctuary to endangered, threatened, and protected species. It is also home to 300 species of coral, including the largest coral atoll in the world. Leaked communications between a UK Foreign Office official and the US, however, reveal that the primary purpose behind the establishment of the MPA was to “put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents.”
Top-down policies like no-take zones can conflict with historical fishing rights and access. Prior to expulsion, Chagossians had a rich history of artisanal fishing and boatbuilding. In interviews with the diaspora, former residents describe their deep connection with the sea and its protection. The Chagos MPA has been dubbed a textbook example of ocean-grabbing, or policies or initiatives that deprive small-scale fishers of resources, dispossesses vulnerable populations of coastal lands, and/or undermine historical access to area of the sea. Chagossians have stated that current policies would bar them from their main livelihood and an important cornerstone of their cultural heritage. Increasingly, leading conservation organizations and policy planners have called for a need to improve the consultation of local and indigenous communities in conservation designations, management, and processes.
In 2015, the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal unanimously held that the Chagos MPA violates international law, citing Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. Since the ruling, the UK and Mauritius have been engaged in bilateral negotiations over the future of the MPA, with the no-take zone largely still in place. Chagossian Voices, a leading advocacy group, has spoken out about their lack of consultation in the negotiation process to finalize the restoration of Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos. In a recent social media post the group stated, “Chagossians remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland,” calling for full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.
A joint statement from the UK and Mauritius provided insight into the future of resettlement and economic development for Chagos. The statement mentions an annual payment for the duration of the 99-year lease of Diego Garcia and an infrastructure partnership supported by UK grant funding, with further cooperation planned on environmental protection, maritime security, combatting illegal fishing, and combatting trafficking of persons and drugs. Critically, it also mentions the establishment of a new Mauritian MPA.
With the historic ruling granting sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius, the Mauritian government must consider revising the policies for the new MPA. As we celebrate the decolonization of Chagos, and the government of Mauritius prepares for resettlement, the archipelago’s fiercest advocates, the Chagossians themselves, should decide its socioeconomic and environmental future.
To Ensure Equitable Resettlement, We Must Rethink the Chagos Marine Protected Area
By Madelyn MacMurray
Resilience & Sustainability
On October 3rd, the United Kingdom and Mauritius reached a historic agreement that restores the right of forcibly evicted residents to return to the Chagos Islands, while also affirming Mauritius’s sovereignty over the archipelago. This landmark agreement includes a 99-year lease for the Diego Garcia military base, allowing continued US and UK presence on the atoll.
While this breakthrough addresses decades of injustice, it also prompts urgent discussion about the equitable resettlement of the Chagossian community and untangling decades of policies designed to deny their right to return. As Chagossians seek to reclaim their homeland, it is essential to navigate the complexities of their cultural heritage and historical rights, ensuring their voices shape the future of the archipelago.
In the 1960s, the US and UK agreed to build a military base on Diego Garcia, one of 60 islands comprising the archipelago. In 1965, amid discussions with Mauritius over independence, the UK separated Chagos from Mauritius, declaring it the British Indian Ocean Territory. As part of this declaration, the UK reported to the United Nations that there was no living population on the islands. Over the next eight years, the UK would expel the entire population.
Between 1967 and 1973, the British government forcibly evicted 1,500 Chagossians from the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and Seychelles. Human Rights Watch has described the eviction as amounting to, “crimes against humanity committed by a colonial power against an indigenous people.” Between 1971 and 1975, 1 in 40 Chagossians died from starvation, disease, and suicide.
The British government has repeatedly fought to deny Chagossians their right to return. One form this has taken is the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA). In April 2010, the UK established the Chagos MPA without consulting Mauritius or Chagossians. It covers 544,000 sq. kilometers, nearly double the size of the United Kingdom, and establishes a no-take zone where all fishing is banned.
The Chagos Islands appear to be an ideal location for conservation, offering sanctuary to endangered, threatened, and protected species. It is also home to 300 species of coral, including the largest coral atoll in the world. Leaked communications between a UK Foreign Office official and the US, however, reveal that the primary purpose behind the establishment of the MPA was to “put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents.”
Top-down policies like no-take zones can conflict with historical fishing rights and access. Prior to expulsion, Chagossians had a rich history of artisanal fishing and boatbuilding. In interviews with the diaspora, former residents describe their deep connection with the sea and its protection. The Chagos MPA has been dubbed a textbook example of ocean-grabbing, or policies or initiatives that deprive small-scale fishers of resources, dispossesses vulnerable populations of coastal lands, and/or undermine historical access to area of the sea. Chagossians have stated that current policies would bar them from their main livelihood and an important cornerstone of their cultural heritage. Increasingly, leading conservation organizations and policy planners have called for a need to improve the consultation of local and indigenous communities in conservation designations, management, and processes.
In 2015, the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal unanimously held that the Chagos MPA violates international law, citing Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. Since the ruling, the UK and Mauritius have been engaged in bilateral negotiations over the future of the MPA, with the no-take zone largely still in place. Chagossian Voices, a leading advocacy group, has spoken out about their lack of consultation in the negotiation process to finalize the restoration of Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos. In a recent social media post the group stated, “Chagossians remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland,” calling for full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.
A joint statement from the UK and Mauritius provided insight into the future of resettlement and economic development for Chagos. The statement mentions an annual payment for the duration of the 99-year lease of Diego Garcia and an infrastructure partnership supported by UK grant funding, with further cooperation planned on environmental protection, maritime security, combatting illegal fishing, and combatting trafficking of persons and drugs. Critically, it also mentions the establishment of a new Mauritian MPA.
With the historic ruling granting sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius, the Mauritian government must consider revising the policies for the new MPA. As we celebrate the decolonization of Chagos, and the government of Mauritius prepares for resettlement, the archipelago’s fiercest advocates, the Chagossians themselves, should decide its socioeconomic and environmental future.
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