What are the Chagos Islands and why is the UK returning them to Mauritius?

"In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump has described the UK's plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as an act of great stupidity. He claimed that it had made it all the more important for him to take Greenland from Denmark. Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, while critical of Trump over his threats of tariffs on European countries who oppose his territorial land grab,"

"which is now making its way through parliament. They are an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, located approximately 5,799 miles south-east of the UK and 1,250 miles north-east of Mauritius. They became British territory along with Mauritius in 1814 as part of the treaty of Paris after the defeat of Napoleon. The group of islands were designated as British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 and detached from Mauritius which became independent in 1968."

"The deal then was that the islands would return to Mauritius once they were no longer needed for Britain's defence. A joint UK-US military base was built on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. Displaced residents were resettled in Mauritius and Seychelles, while some were relocated to the UK in 2002. Since the 1980s, Mauritius has claimed sovereignty over the islands and pursued its case through international courts and tribunals."

Donald Trump labelled the UK's move to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius an act of great stupidity and tied it to his comment about taking Greenland. Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage criticised Trump's tariff threats but supported his criticism of the UK-Mauritius treaty. The Chagos archipelago lies in the Indian Ocean, thousands of miles from the UK and north-east of Mauritius. The islands became British in 1814, were made British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 and detached from Mauritius before its 1968 independence. A UK-US military base sits on Diego Garcia, displaced residents were resettled, and Mauritius has pursued sovereignty claims since the 1980s; the ICJ ruled in 2019 that decolonisation was incomplete and the UK began negotiations with Mauritius in 2022.

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