Hello everyone,
A weird thing happened on X in May. All of a sudden, right-wing accounts and Conservative Party supporters in the UK were furious about the Chagos Islands, an archipelago of seven atolls and more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean.
What angered them was that Britain, which had controlled the islands since 1814, had agreed to hand sovereignty over to Mauritius.
I would have been happy to make a bet at the time. And that is that most of the people fulminating had never heard of the territory before the news broke.
So, what got them so irate? Where does it all stand now? Why are the US, China and India involved? And what about the Chagossian people?
There have been some new developments this week.
Let’s jump into a Q&A.
Until next Saturday,
Barry.
That sounds … complicated. Remind me of the background
Okay, I’ll go back about 300 years, but don’t worry, I’ll be quick. The islands were claimed by the French in the late 1700s and they quickly began to establish coconut plantations to which they brought enslaved people from Africa.
In 1814, after Napoleon’s abdication, Britain took possession of Chagos and nearby Mauritius from the French, and began administering the islands from Mauritius. In 1965, as Mauritius pushed for independence, London separated Chagos from Mauritius and renamed it the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Mauritius was granted independence in 1968 and Britain kept BIOT.
Told you I’d be quick.
Why is Britain giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius now?
Not so fast, a lot happened in between. And it was pretty awful.
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