Chagos Islands: What now for the UK's other overseas territories?

Words by Lilly Croucher, Producer

On October 3 the UK announced a deal which would see the sovereignty of the remote Chagos Islands handed to Mauritius.

The deal also included the largest island in the archipelago, Diego Garcia which holds a joint UK and US military base.

It is the first time in 50 years the status of the islands will be undisputed and legally secure, but what could this mean for the UK's other overseas territories?

After criticism from the Tories over the handing over of the Chagos Island, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked to guarantee that under Labour no other British overseas territories will be signed away.

He told reporters: “The single most important thing was ensuring that we had a secure base, the joint US-UK base; hugely important to the US, hugely important to us."

The UK retains sovereignty over 14 overseas territories which are inhabited by around 300,000 people.

These include the Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory (BAT); British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT); British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands; UK Sovereign Base Area.

What does 'sovereignty' mean?

Sovereignty means one state having ultimate authority over a territory.

In the context of the UK's overseas territories, each territory has their own constitution, government and laws but the sovereign, HM King Charles III, is the head of state.

The Falkland Islands

Argentina has vowed to gain "full sovereignty" of the Falkland Islands after Chagos was handed to Mauritius on Thursday.

Located off the east coast of South America, the sovereignty of the Falklands has been a continuously disputed between Argentina and the UK, which most notably led to the Falklands war in 1982.

The country's foreign minister, Diana Mondino welcomed the return of the Chagos islands to the Mauritians and has promised "concrete action" to ensure the Falkland Islands are handed to Buenos Aires.

Ms Mondino said: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius came to a conclusion today, with Mauritians successfully regaining their territory of Chagos.

“We welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices. Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.

“The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.”

In a statement on Thursday, Falklands governor Alison Blake sought to reassure residents that Britain's commitment to the islands was "unwavering".

Ms Blake said: "I would like to reassure you that the legal and historical contexts of the Chagos Archipelago and the Falkland Islands is very different.

"UK Ministers have been very clear throughout the process that the UK will not agree to anything that runs the risk of jeopardising sovereignty in other overseas territories.

"The UK Government remains committed to defending the Falkland Islanders' right to self-determination, and the UK's unwavering commitment to defend UK sovereignty remains undiminished."

Gibraltar

Located on the southern tip of Spain, Gibraltar has been a British overseas territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said the case with the Chagos Islands "sets absolutely no precedent whatsoever in the context of Gibraltar."

Writing on X, Mr Picardo reiterated the UK's commitment to not enter into any sovereignty negotiations against the people of Gibraltar's "freely and democratically expressed wishes".

Caribbean Islands

Other UK overseas territories have not commented on the changes with the Chagos islands and for now will remain British territories.

Most of the territories such as the Caymen Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla have the King as their head of state.

Barbados is not an overseas territory but did have HM Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state until 2021 when the country became a republic, sparking conversations about removing the British head of state from former colonies.