Related ongoing thread:<p><i>Ask HN: What happens to ".io" TLD after UK gives back the Chagos Islands?</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41729526">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41729526</a> - Oct 2024 (153 comments)
I'm a citizen of the Republic of Mauritius and, when this news was announced today, there was a general sense of relief.<p>Mauritius has been fighting for its sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago (with Diego Garcia being the largest island) for 56 years.<p>Today, the Chagos Archipelago is part of Mauritius again and a treaty will (hopefully) soon be signed between the UK and Mauritius.<p>From there, Mauritius will sign a lease agreement of 99 years with the USA so that the military base there can continue to operate.<p>Of course, there will surely be a lot of money involved but we don't have the details yet.
The US base on Diego Garcia is an exceptionally nasty bit of history: with the British murdering all the local islanders pet dogs - literally grabbing them from the arms of screaming children and telling them they were next - as part of an intimidation campaign to force them off the island so the US could have it’s intelligence outpost.
> African nations began to speak with one voice on the issue, pushing the UK hard on the issue of decolonialisation.<p>I wish the journalists had a little more sophistication on this. African nations began to push the UK on this because China and Russia understand that Diego Garcia is a critical port, and made investment + aid/ bribery + weapons (China / Russia respectively) conditional on forcing the issue.
> The remaining British overseas territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. There are also two sovereign base areas on Cyprus under British jurisdiction.<p>Good note at the end
I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell.<p>On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
Some countries have constitutions that forbid giving up any parts of its territory, but apparently our government can hand over sovereignty without even a vote in parliament
I guess this means the sun will now set on the British empire. It’s pretty far west from the Pitcairn Islands to Akrotiri and Dhekelia without the Indian Ocean territory in between.
Interestingly this includes the military base of Diego Garcia which is strategically important. I imagine the US will pay Mauritius a bucket load of money for continued use.
Hopefully I'm not too late - the Guardian's coverage included this important bit:<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/03/britain-to-return-chagos-islands-to-mauritius-ending-years-of-dispute" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/03/britain-to-ret...</a><p><i>An attempt to halt the negotiations, on the basis that the Chagossians were not consulted or involved, failed.<p>Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, said of Thursday’s announcement: “Chagossian Voices deplore the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland. Chagossians have learned this outcome from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland.<p>“The views of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.”</i><p>[later in the article:]<p><i>Clive Baldwin, senior legal adviser at HRW, said: “The agreement says it will address the wrongs against the Chagossians of the past but it looks like it will continue the crimes long into the future.<p>“It does not guarantee that the Chagossians will return to their homeland, appears to explicitly ban them from the largest island, Diego Garcia, for another century, and does not mention the reparations they are all owed to rebuild their future. The forthcoming treaty needs to address their rights, and there should be meaningful consultations with the Chagossians, otherwise the UK, US and now Mauritius will be responsible for a still-ongoing colonial crime.”</i>
bad deal for Mauritius. they didn’t gain any sovereignty, they lost some. why? because now the foreign military base is officially on Maritius soil. so US now has a base in Mauritius just like they have in Japan and other places and those places can’t do anything about it
The article makes it sound like the UK is attempting to gain African influence by returning Chagos while keeping the military bases. Perhaps it's also cheaper to only have the bases since that's the main reason the UK has kept control?
Mauritius was a sponsor to the Treaty of Pelindaba/African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty. The US's stockpile on Diego Garcia likely violates this.
What does this means in terms of global politics and US having a base there?<p>I also assume .io no longer being controlled by UK? ( Which is somewhat worrying )
Worth reading Kevin Murphy’s piece here:<p><a href="https://domainincite.com/30395-future-of-io-domains-uncertain-as-uk-hands-over-chagos-islands" rel="nofollow">https://domainincite.com/30395-future-of-io-domains-uncertai...</a><p>He’s a long time commentator on the domain industry and very inciteful. But also quite insightful.
<i>> There, the UK will ensure operation of the military base for "an initial period" of 99 years.</i><p>Taking bets on how much surface area of this atoll will still be above water in 2123.
<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/top-level-domains/" rel="nofollow">https://freakonomics.com/podcast/top-level-domains/</a> is a podcast that talks about the economics of TLDs like ".io".
I recommend the Behind the Bastards series "How the British Empire and U.S. DoD Murdered an Island Paradise" about the Chagos islands for deeper context.
diego garcia remains, so it really is a matter of semantics.<p>not that military bases like these are always great with the host nations (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf-eHVa-2zE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf-eHVa-2zE</a>).<p>any potential windfall would be nice for Mauritius, but obviously does not remedy for the conflict.
See also "How the British Empire and U.S. Department of Defense Murdered an Island Paradise" ... "the story of the Chagos Islands, a paradise founded by former slaves that was wiped out by the British empire so they could lease it to the U.S. as an air base" [1]<p>[1] <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-how-the-british-empire-186807534/" rel="nofollow">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236...</a>
Yeah...<p>As long as the US and the UK is allowed to operate their
military bases and operations without any protest or
quibble for the next 100 years and probably more.
Have some spare change instead of too much sovereignty.<p>And remember the military bases are US and UK soil
and whatever goes on there can keep going on whatever
laws may or may not be passed.<p>Just like how the US maintains a military base,
camp (now not very busy at the moment) concentration
camp in the communist country of Cuba.
Very sad for the United Kingdom, I think. Back in 1982 Queen Elizabeth II refused to give up the Falklands at gunpoint; in 2024 King Charles III gives up the British Indian Ocean Territory without even a shot being fired.