The archipelago was acquired in the 1960s and a US military base established by displacing the indigenous population to ensure western influence in the region.

In 1965, as part of the decolonisation process, the UK separated the islands from Mauritius, creating a new colony. From 1968 (when Mauritius gained independence), the UK expelled Chagossians from the islands to pave the way for a US military base it agreed on in 1966.

After decades of legal battles, Britain has agreed to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a former colony. The remote Indian Ocean archipelago will continue to host a US military base, but

The agreement ends decades of dispute over Britain’s last African colony, from which thousands of people were forcibly evicted, while maintaining a key U.S.-British military base there.

The British government agreed Thursday to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, in a deal to secure the future of a strategically important U.

Writer and broadcaster Esther Krakue says the handing over of Chagos Islands sovereignty to Mauritius shows the United Kingdom has a government of “student activists”.