A deal on the disputed Chagos Islands faces more hurdles. Here’s what to know

LONDON AP The governments of Britain and Mauritius have reached a final deal to settle the future of the Chagos Islands the contested archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean that s home to a strategically crucial U S military base But they have been barred from signing it at least temporarily by a British judge The agreement would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands from the U K to Mauritius though Britain would retain control of the largest of the chain of islands Diego Garcia which hosts the American naval and bomber base The two countries reached an initial agreement in October but it was put on hold after Britain revealed it had to wait for the approval of U S President Donald Trump The deal also became stuck after a change of regime in Mauritius amid quarrels over how much money the U K should pay for the lease of Diego Garcia The U S pays Britain an unspecified amount to operate the base Here s what to know about the disputed islands What are the Chagos Islands and why are they contested The remote chain of more than islands is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the tip of India south of the Maldives The Chagos Islands have been under British control since when they were ceded by France The archipelago is best known for the military base on Diego Garcia which has supported U S military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan In the U S acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terror persons Britain split the Chagos Islands away from Mauritius a former British colony in three years before Mauritius gained independence and called the Chagos archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory In the s and s Britain evicted as countless as people from the islands so the U S military could build the Diego Garcia base The U S has described the base which is home to about mostly American personnel as an all but indispensable platform for shield operations in the Middle East South Asia and East Africa Majority of in the last few days the U S deployed several nuclear-capable B- Spirit bombers to Diego Garcia amid an intense airstrike campaign targeting Yemen s Houthi rebels In new years criticism grew over Britain s control of the archipelago and the way it forcibly displaced the local population The United Nations and the International Court of Justice have both urged Britain to end its colonial administration of the islands and transfer their sovereignty to Mauritius What is in the deal and why was it delayed In October Britain s administration communicated that it was finalizing details of a treaty to hand sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius with the exception of Diego Garcia which will remain under British control for at least years The deal was hailed by then-U S President Joe Biden as a historic agreement that secured the future of the Diego Garcia base But Britain s opposition Conservatives slammed the administration for surrendering control of the territory saying that the decision exposed the U K and its allies to precaution threats Last year the now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reported it posed a serious threat to U S national shield In January Britain s cabinet authenticated that the Trump administration was reviewing a renegotiated deal without providing details In February Trump suggested he was in favor of the agreement when he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington Meanwhile voters in Mauritius ousted the regime that made the deal and new Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam backed away from it citing financial concerns Ramgoolam suggested that the initial deal which would reportedly see the U K pay million pounds million a year to Mauritius for the continued operation of the Diego Garcia military base was a sellout The U K authorities has not disclosed how much it will pay to lease the base After more negotiations a final deal was set to be signed by the two countries leaders on Thursday But hours before the ceremony a High Court judge imposed an injunction stopping the handover Judge Julian Goose ordered the British administration to maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order What does the deal mean for displaced islanders An estimated displaced Chagossians and their descendants now live primarily in Britain Mauritius and the Seychelles Multiple of them want to return to the islands and several have fought unsuccessfully in U K courts for numerous years for the right to go home Chagossians say they were left out of the political negotiations which have left them unclear on whether they and their descendants could ever be allowed to return to their homeland Human Rights Watch has noted that Britain s forced displacement of the Chagossians and ongoing refusal to let them go home amount to crimes against humanity committed by a colonial power against an Indigenous people The draft deal stated a resettlement fund would be created for displaced islanders to help them move back to the islands apart from Diego Garcia But details of how that will work remain sketchy Two Chagossian women Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe challenged the handover deal in the British courts They argue it will become even harder to return once Mauritius takes control of the islands Thursday s court injunction was granted in response to their application Source