The small sea island is home to a limited US-British military base. The secret just came out

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A remote island in the Indian Ocean that is home to a secret US military joint base is now under international scrutiny after a long-running territorial dispute between Britain and Mauritius appears to have ended.

Diego Garcia Atoll, the largest atoll in the Chagos Islands and a relic of British colonial times, is home to the US naval support facility Diego Garcia. This military facility was leased to the U.S. Navy after hundreds of Chagos Islanders were forcibly deported. On the island almost 60 years ago.

Since then, it has quietly become a powerful strategic base for America's war on terror following the September 11 attacks, as well as a rumored CIA black site and landing pad for extrajudicial flights amounting to state-sponsored kidnappings.

Diego Garcia is about 1,000 miles from the nearest land. No commercial flights or ships are permitted to arrive there. Visitors must obtain permission to remain on land.

In the course of investigating a historic court case over the treatment of detained Sri Lankan Tamils ​​seeking asylum on the island, BBC reporters were granted rare permission to enter Diego Garcia, revealing the extent of its secrecy and Britain's surreal footprint. . It is an island paradise that only a few people get to witness.

Then on Thursday, after weeks of negotiations, Britain announced that the United States would cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, allowing it to continue operating a base there for 100 years.

The fuel tanks are located on the edge of the military airstrip on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and home to a major U.S. military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean leased from Britain in 1966 (Reuters).

According to the BBC, British government lawyers tried to block the BBC from attending asylum case hearings on the island, while the United States refused to allow journalists to attend, citing risks to the security and effective operation of military bases.

BBC journalists were ultimately allowed to stay on the island for five days, but there were strict restrictions, including not reporting on those restrictions.

According to the BBC, it has a cinema, an English pub, a nightclub with a bulldog logo, a bowling alley, a museum and souvenir shops, and streets are named Britannia Way and Churchill Road.

The region has been under British rule since 1814, and the Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius in 1965 to become a British Indian Ocean territory. In 1966, just two years before Mauritius gained independence, Britain agreed to lease the island to the United States for 50 years, which was later extended until 2036 in 2016.

Exiled islanders cannot return.

The latest treaty appears to extend the U.S. military presence until the end of the century.

The image released by the U.S. Navy contains an aerial photo of Diego Garcia. (AP)

Slaves from Madagascar and Mozambique were brought to the islands under French and British rule. After separation from Mauritius and subsequent British occupation, more than 1,000 people were rapidly expelled to make way for a military base. The pets were killed and the Chagossians were shipped off to the Seychelles.

The United Nations ruled that Britain must begin decolonization of the territory and stop its illegal occupation. Britain granted citizenship to some Chagossians in 2002, but Chagoss have fought for years to return to their homeland.

Meanwhile, the United States has been using the island to reload aircraft and submarines carrying Tomahawk missiles heading to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2015, former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff said the island was used by the CIA for nefarious activities and as a transit point where people were temporarily housed and sometimes interrogated.

Capt. Blake Tornga, commander of U.S. Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, speaks to the Air Operations Department during a ceremony held at the base, July 24, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Carlos W. Hopper)

Former U.S. military and White House officials have also claimed the island was used to imprison people, and human rights groups have reported that ships anchored just offshore have been used for interrogations. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was also rumored to be detained on the island.

A joint statement from the UK and Mauritius on Thursday said both countries were committed to the need to ensure the long-term, safe and effective operation of the existing base at Diego Garcia, which plays a critical role, and would agree to a treaty. Role in regional and global security.

The agreement will allow the UK to ensure the continued operation of the base for at least 99 years and into the next century.

Decades after Britain forcibly removed indigenous people from the island, the new treaty will address past wrongs and demonstrate both sides' commitment to supporting the well-being of the Chagossian people, according to the statement.

But they can't go back to Diego Garcia.

Mauritius will now be free to implement a resettlement program on the islands of the Chagos archipelago, excluding Diego Garcia, and the UK will capitalize a new trust fund for the benefit of Chagossians and separately provide other support. said.

A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber takes off from Diego Garcia military base on a strike mission over Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2021, in Diego Garcia. (DoD/AFP via Getty Images)

“This agreement shows that countries can overcome long historical challenges to achieve a peaceful and mutually beneficial outcome,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

According to the President, the Diego Garcia base plays an important role in national, regional and global security.

He added that this allows the United States to support operations that demonstrate our shared commitment to regional stability, respond quickly to crises, and address the most challenging security threats we face. This agreement ensures the effective operation of the Diego Garcia joint facility into the next century.

Chagossian Voices, a UK-based diaspora group, said it deplored the Chagossian community's exclusion from the negotiations.

Chagossians remain powerless and have no voice in determining our own future and the future of our country, the group said in a statement.

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