UK abandons Chagos sovereignty transfer amid US geopolitical pressure, exposing colonial legacy and global power asymmetries

The Chagossian people, forcibly removed in the 1960s-70s to make way for the US military base, represent a case of Indigenous displacement tied to colonial-era land grabs and Cold War militarisation. Their claims are rooted in ancestral ties to the islands, now compounded by intergenerational trauma and statelessness across Mauritius and the UK. Western legal frameworks have systematically excluded their voices, treating them as obstacles to geopolitical 'realism.' Indigenous knowledge of marine ecosystems and island stewardship is also erased in favour of military utility.

The Chagos case mirrors 19th-century colonial partitions (e.g., Berlin Conference) where European powers carved up territories for strategic value, ignoring Indigenous populations. The 1965 excision of Chagos from Mauritius—coerced under decolonisation pressures—set a precedent for postcolonial territorial disputes where former colonisers retain control via military bases. The US-UK alliance’s Cold War-era deal to establish Diego Garcia exemplifies how 'security' justifies ongoing colonial violence.

Pacific Islander communities (e.g., Kanaky, Hawai‘i) recognise Diego Garcia as part of a 'Pacific sacrifice zone' where Indigenous lands are militarised for great power competition. In the Caribbean, Puerto Rico’s unresolved colonial status offers a parallel: a territory denied sovereignty despite US strategic interests. African and Indian Ocean states view Chagos through the lens of decolonisation, contrasting Western 'rules-based order' with selective enforcement when it conflicts with military imperatives.

The US military base on Diego Garcia has caused irreversible ecological damage, including coral reef destruction and marine pollution, contradicting claims of 'controlled' environmental impact. Studies show the base’s strategic value is overstated: alternative logistics hubs (e.g., Singapore, Australia) could replace Diego Garcia without the same human rights and environmental costs. The UK’s abandonment of the bill aligns with evidence that postcolonial territorial disputes are increasingly resolved through coercion rather than law.

Chagossian oral histories and music (e.g., sega songs) preserve memories of the islands as a sacred homeland, resisting erasure by Western cartography and legal fictions. Artists like Keiron Piller have used visual media to depict the archipelago’s beauty and the violence of displacement, framing sovereignty as an emotional and cultural continuum. Spiritual traditions among displaced Chagossians centre on ancestral land, contrasting with the secular, transactional view of territory in geopolitics.

Scenario planning reveals that US withdrawal from Diego Garcia could trigger a regional arms race or force alternative logistics solutions, reshaping Indo-Pacific supply chains. A Chagos sovereignty transfer could set a precedent for other postcolonial disputes (e.g., Western Sahara, Gibraltar), but risks reinforcing militarised sovereignty unless paired with demilitarisation. Climate change threatens the archipelago’s habitability, making its future a test case for climate migration and reparative justice.

Chagossian activists (e.g., Olivier Bancoult, the Chagos Refugees Group) have spent decades demanding return and reparations, only to be dismissed as 'political' by Western governments. Mauritian sovereignty claims are often reduced to 'nationalism' in Western media, ignoring the archipelago’s cultural and historical ties to Mauritius. The UK’s abandonment of the bill further marginalises these voices, prioritising US military interests over justice.