Diego Garcia is the largest of 60 small islands belonging to the Chagos Archipelago, and is a disputed overseas territory of the UK, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), also claimed by Mauritius. Negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks.
The atoll is found at least 1,000 miles from the nearest landmass: 2,197 miles east of Tazmania’s coast, 1,116 miles southwest of the southern tip of India and 2,935 miles northwest of the west coast of Australia.
The island is strictly out of bounds to most civilians and is the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base, which has been shrouded in rumour and mystery for decades.
But in September, after months of fighting, the BBC gained unprecedented access to the island. To enter the island you need a permit – there are no commercial flights and permits for boats are only granted for the archipelago’s outer islands and to allow safe passage through the Indian Ocean.
It was first discovered by Europeans (the Portuguese) in 1512, finding it uninhabited. In 1786 a British colony failed, after which the French began using the island as a leper colony and then for coconut cultivation by slave labour in 1793.
After the Napoleonic Wars, it was transferred to British rule where it was one of the “Dependencies” of the British Colony of Mauritius until the Chagos Islands were detached for inclusion in the newly created BIOT in 1965.
In 1966, the population was employed as contract farm workers primarily on copra plantations owned by the Chagos-Agalega company. Children over the age of 12 were required to work. In 1964, only three of the population of 963 were unemployed.
Between 1968 and 1973, the Chagossian inhabitants were forcibly expelled from Diego Garcia by the UK government so that a joint UK/ US military base could be established. Dogs, including pets, were rounded up and killed.
A Foreign Office memo in 1966 stated that the object of its plan “was to get some rocks which will remain ours; there will be no indigenous population except seagulls”.
Many residents were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles in cargo ships. The US then built the large Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, which still operates today. Tankers operating from Diego Garcia refuelled bombers that had flown from the US to carry out the first airstrikes on Afghanistan after 9/11. The lease to the US is set to expire in 2036.
In 2019, this action and the continued British administration of the archipelago were deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, a ruling that was supported by the UN. The British, however, dismissed the ruling as it was not legally binding. In 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the action as a “crime against humanity”.
While road names include Britannia Way and Churchill Road, cars drive on the right, the US dollar is the accepted currency and the electric sockets are American. While the territory is administered from London, most personnel and resources are under the control of the US.
Troops were seen playing tennis, windsurfing and there was a cinema, bowling alley and museum. There is also a fast food restaurant called Jake’s Place. However, it is difficult to forget the military nature of the island. Military drills are called early in the morning and there is an armoury.
BIOT’s website states that Diego Garcia has “some of the cleanest seas and healthiest reef systems in the world”, as well as having the “greatest marine biodiversity in the UK and its Overseas Territories”.
In September, the government announced that Tony Blair’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, who played a central role in negotiating the Good Friday agreement in Northern Island, had been appointed to negotiate with Mauritius over the islands.
In a statement, new Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK was endeavouring to “reach a settlement that protects UK interests and those of our partners”, stressing the need to protect the “long-term, secure and effective operation of the joint UK/US military base”.
Rumours have also circulated that the island has been used as a CIA black-site – a facility to house and interrogate terror suspects. The UK government finally confirmed in 2008 that rendition flights carrying terror suspects had landed on the island in 2002, but said that the detainees never left the plane.