Mauritius has officially regained sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago after reaching a £3.4 billion agreement with the United Kingdom. The treaty includes a clause allowing the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia to remain under a long-term lease, but Mauritius now controls governance over the rest of the territory. For Chagossians, many of whom were exiled in the 1960s and 70s, this marks a bittersweet moment of vindication and long-awaited justice. The return follows decades of legal and diplomatic battles at the UN and international courts, where Mauritius consistently argued that the UK’s continued control violated international law. The Mauritian government has already announced plans to resettle displaced islanders and establish new administrative centers. Celebrations erupted across the island nation, with national flags raised across coastal towns and a planned return mission scheduled for later this year.
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