evidence: The United Kingdom has announced it is giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that will secure the future of a key US military base on the atoll of Diego Garcia while allowing islanders displaced for the past five decades a right of return. [...] The UK, which has controlled the region since 1814, detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius – a former colony that became independent three years later – to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. [...] A subsequent UN resolution endorsed by 116 member states gave the UK six months to hand back the archipelago, but members of the previous Conservative government – including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – had raised objections that Mauritius might allow China access to the territory, and negotiations stalled.