The United Kingdom created the 640,000-square-kilometre Chagos Marine Protected Area on 1 April 2010, imposing a near-total fishing ban around the Chagos Archipelago. The designation followed the earlier forced expulsion of Chagossians to make way for the US military base on Diego Garcia. Mauritius and Chagossian representatives argued that the reserve would prevent displaced people from returning and fishing for subsistence, while an exemption allowed base personnel to fish; in 2010, more than 28 tonnes of fish were reportedly caught for the base. The UK also faced allegations that military vessels discharged waste in Diego Garcia’s lagoon, though the government refused to release a cited scientific adviser’s report.
A WikiLeaks-released US Embassy cable dated 2009 recorded British Foreign Office director Colin Roberts saying a marine park would “in effect, put paid to resettlement claims,” while US political counselor Richard Mills described it as potentially the “most effective long-term way” to prevent return. Those remarks were diplomatic disclosures, not a judicial finding that conservation was solely a pretext. However, on 18 March 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration unanimously ruled that the UK’s creation of the MPA violated legally binding commitments to Mauritius concerning fishing, future return of the archipelago, and mineral and oil rights. The tribunal rejected London’s claim that its 1965 undertakings were nonbinding; the final decision remains central to negotiations over Mauritius’s sovereignty and the Chagossians’ right to return.
