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

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.

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 deal that’s been announced is a rare win-win moment in international relations, with all the relevant actors able to claim a meaningful victory.

The British government announced last week that it is handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius under an agreement that will see the American naval and bomber base stay on one of the islands, Diego Garcia.

Islanders who were forced to leave their remote Indian Ocean home to make way for a U.S. military base half a century ago protested outside the U.K. Parliament on Monday

The former prime minister said the deal, which saw Britain hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, is a ‘terrible, terrible idea geo-strategically’