British Indian Ocean Territory

(asked on 21st July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2021 to Question 31362 on the British Indian Ocean Territory, whether the UK's 1965 undertaking referred to in that answer and which was found to be legally binding by the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in its Dispositif of 18 March 2015 was to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius rather than to cede sovereignty.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 8th September 2021

The United Kingdom has no doubt about its sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT, also referred to as the Chagos Archipelago), which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. The United Kingdom has, however, a long-standing commitment, first made in 1965, to cede BIOT to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. We stand by that commitment. Use of the term 'return' in this connection has reflected the fact that before 1965 the Chagos Archipelago was administered as a dependency of Mauritius.

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