UN Criticizes UK-Mauritius Deal on Chagos Archipelago, Cites Rights Concerns

The United Nations has expressed serious concern over a recent agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius regarding the Chagos Islands. A UN human rights body has urged both nations not to ratify the deal. The agreement, reached in May, would formally transfer sovereignty of the strategic archipelago from the UK to Mauritius. However, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination states the agreement violates the rights of the Indigenous Chagossian people. The committee argues the deal was made without proper consultation with the Chagossians. It says this process fails to respect their right to self-determination. The UK has administered the islands since 1814. It separated them from Mauritius in 1965, before the country's independence, to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. The UK then removed the entire Chagossian population in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for a joint US military base on Diego Garcia. The UN's International Court of Justice and General Assembly have previously stated the UK's administration is unlawful and called for its end. The new sovereignty agreement seeks to resolve this long-running dispute, but now faces criticism for overlooking Chagossian rights.