The UK has signed a £3.4bn ($4.6bn) deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of a UK-US military base on Diego Garcia – the largest of the islands.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the 99-year agreement to lease back Diego Garcia will cost the UK £101m a year, and is necessary to protect the base from “malign influence”.
Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam said the agreement completed “the total process of decolonisation”.
But UK opposition leaders – and some Chagossians now residing in the UK – have criticised the deal.
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