Britain could soon give up its last African colony
The Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia may be back in Mauritian hands again before long
By the mid-1960s Britain was well into the process of dismantling its empire. But in 1965, the same year it gave up the Gambia and the Maldives, it also created a new colony. During negotiations with Mauritius over its independence, Britain carved out 58 remote islands, known as the Chagos Archipelago, for itself. These became the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Between 1968 and 1973 the islands’ population was expelled.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Ocean retreat”
From the February 18th 2023 edition
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