Chagos Islands

The Chagossians were forced out from their islands in the 60s and early 70s by the British government because the USA wanted to build an air base there. Some went to Mauritius and some came here, probably thinking that we would see them right. Imaging having to live here in this cold wet country after being born in the tropics.

There was British military presence there during WW2. My father was based there for a while, and I've heard stories about it since I was a child.

The Imperial War Museum has 4 interesting films of wartime Diego Garcia on You Tube.

The chagosians were forced to leave their homes, by the UK in the 1960s with a promise of return. Many settled here but have fought through the courts to return. They don’t want to be taken over by Mauritius.

Thanks for that Allira. Very informative.

Looks like it might be blocked now. I do hope so.

barmcake

DollyD is correct.

We will be handing over British sovereign territory and it will cost the British taxpayer £35 billion. Mauritius is an ally of China and Russia. It will undermine not just our national security but that of our allies too.

pa.media/blogs/fact-check/fact-check-government-calculations-set-out-three-cost-estimates-for-chagos-deal/

I can search the internet! 😁

DollyD is correct.

We will be handing over British sovereign territory and it will cost the British taxpayer £35 billion. Mauritius is an ally of China and Russia. It will undermine not just our national security but that of our allies too.

Maremia

The people who are complaining about the change, do they live on the islands?

Intelligent debate starts with knowing something about the subject.

By the way, if we all just used search engines or Ai for information there would be no-one on Ask a Gran.

👏👏👏 😀

Pretty much what I gathered too- although I thought that the lease was running out, so caused it to be re-negotiated.

The situation with the Chagosians has been going on for years though, because I think they were forced to leave the islands when the base was built?

I am no expert so will happily stand corrected if l have the gist wrong. I believe there has already been one international court ruling that forced the UK to act, thus the compromise.

UK want to avoid court proceedings concerning the sovereignty of the Chagos Island, which may cause the suspension of the air base, and so have agreed to hand the islands back to Mauritius, and then to lease the airfield back for at least 100 years.
Trump says UK should keep the islands but it's highly likely this contravenes international law. It's strategically an extremely important military/air base used by UK/USA.
Many Chagos people consider themselves a nation and don't want to be part of Mauritius. UK has offered them British citizenship and many have made their way here, to Crawley. They have to fund their own travel. Many Chagos people hope one day to be able to return to independent Chagos Islands and there is a British charitable organisation supporting this, that charity has help 4 Chagos islanders to return there recently.

Frankly it's a right mess but if we don't come to some agreement it will all get tied up in court cases (possibly covertly funded by China), and the right to use the air base will be suspended.

Starmer wants to compromise so the base is secure.
Trump wants to do what Trump wants to do.

Thanks for being so helpful butterandjam sarcasm intended.
I can actually use search engines and have done but can’t find any explanation of “Why”….
Why are we paying money to give away something we already own and then pay to rent it back?
With the best will in the world, I can’t see any sense in it and I thought maybe someone on GN may have insight.
By the way, if we all just used search engines or Ai for information there would be no-one on Ask a Gran.

The people who are complaining about the change, do they live on the islands?

The U.K. should not be hanging onto these vestiges of colonialism just because they are useful military bases to launch attacks on some other folks. I bet most people in this country couldn’t locate the Chagos Islands on a map. I can as I’ve been to Mauritius and very nice it is for a visit, however it is a very poor country apart from tourism there’s nothing much else there so giving them a bit of dosh to help their economy sounds ok to me.

more fun

Its because there's much for fun to debate with real intelligence than be spoon fed by AI.

I'm astonished at so many women loose in the internet, who apparently don't know how to use a search machine.

I believe President Trump is against the deal, though he seems to change his mind as often as Keir Starmer.

Not only does he want to give away control of these islands, the UK would be paying £billions to do so.

It's like an episode from 'Yes, Minister'!

I think they have handed control over to Mauritius, in order to keep a base there?

This leaves the Chaggosians stateless as far as I can see.

I could have got this completely wrong though?

I am also in the dark on this issue, and will pop back in later when GNs in the know will have given us some pointers.