"Alamy US President Donald Trump has said the UK's plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is an "an act of GREAT STUPIDITY", months after he endorsed the move."
"The islands were separated from Mauritius in 1965, when Mauritius was still a British colony. Britain purchased the islands for 3m but Mauritius has argued that it was illegally forced to give them away as part of a deal to gain independence from Britain. In the late 1960s, Britain invited the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, forcibly removing thousands of people from their homes in the process. Some of those Chagossians ended up in Mauritius and the Seychelles, but others settled in the UK, mostly in Crawley, West Sussex."
"The UK will hand sovereignty of the archipelago back to Mauritius, but it will lease Diego Garcia for a period of 99 years - at an average cost of 101m a year. The UK will pay 165m in each of the first three years. From years four to 13, it will pay 120m a year. After that, payments will be linked to inflation."
The UK agreed to return sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining use of Diego Garcia through a 99-year lease. The deal is valued at £3.4bn ($4.6bn) and includes scheduled payments: £165m in each of the first three years, £120m annually from years four to 13, then inflation-linked payments. The US will cover the base's running costs and a £40m trust fund will support Chagossians. The islands were detached from Mauritius in 1965 and residents were forcibly removed when the Diego Garcia military base was established.
Read at www.bbc.com
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