Mauritius says it was forced to give up the islands in 1965 in exchange for independence and has since claimed the Chagos Archipelago as Mauritian territory. The United Nations' highest court has ruled in a unanimous but non-binding judgement that the UK's occupation of the islands is illegal, but the UK has refused to hand control to Mauritius. It has said it will hand the islands back when they're no longer needed for defence purposes.
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