Chagos islanders displaced for a US military base protest a deal on their future made without them

LONDON (AP) — Islanders who were forced to leave their remote Indian Ocean home to make way for a U.S. military base half a century ago protested outside the U.K. Parliament on Monday against a deal they say has decided their homeland’s fate without them.

The British government announced last week that it is handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius under an agreement that will see the American naval and bomber base stay on one of the islands, Diego Garcia.

Opponents accuse the government of surrendering sovereignty over a British territory. And the deal has left displaced residents uncertain whether they can go home.

“They announced a deal without even consulting us, which is at the center of all this tragedy,” said Frankie Bontemps, who called the U.K.-Mauritius agreement “history repeating itself.”

“They have a deal which is suitable for them, best for them, of course. And what about the people? What about the people that they ignored like 65 years ago?”

The Chagos Islands, a tropical archipelago just south of the equator off the tip of India, have been under British control since 1814. They have been known as the British Indian Ocean Territory since 1965 when they were split off from Mauritius, a then-U.K. colony that gained independence three years later.

Britain evicted as many as 2,000 people from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build the Diego Garcia base, which has supported U.S. military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the U.S. acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terror suspects.

Many of the islanders resettled in Britain and fought unsuccessfully in U.K. courts to return home. Their cause has garnered international support, notably among African nations and within the United Nations. In a non-binding 2019 opinion, the International Court of Justice ruled that the U.K. had unlawfully carved up Mauritius when it agreed to end colonial rule in the late 1960s.

The U.N. General Assembly followed that opinion with a resolution demanding that Britain end its “colonial administration” of the Chagos Islands and return them to Mauritius.

Britain’s newly elected Labour government says that without the deal the status of the military base would be under threat from legal challenges.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the new government “inherited unfinished business” from the previous Conservative administration, which began negotiations with Mauritius in 2022.

“The status quo was not sustainable,” Lammy told lawmakers in the House of Commons. “A binding judgement against the U.K. seemed inevitable.”

Under the agreement, the U.K. will retain sovereignty of Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years, paying Mauritius an undisclosed rent.

U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it “secures the effective operation of the joint facility on Diego Garcia into the next century.”

But Britain’s Conservative opposition said the decision to hand over a piece of U.K. territory sets a worrying precedent for other far-flung possessions including Gibraltar, which is claimed by Spain, and the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina.

The government strongly denies that. Starmer spokesman Dave Pares said Monday that “British sovereignty of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands is not up for negotiation.”

The agreement will create a resettlement fund for displaced Chagossians aimed at letting them move back to the islands – apart from Diego Garcia. The U.K. says details of any returns are now the responsibility of Mauritius.

“They shouldn’t have made this deal without asking us what we wanted,” said Jemmy Simon, whose grandparents were expelled from the Chagos Islands. “It might just be another island to them. It might just be a military base for them. It might just be keeping everybody else safe. But to us, it is home.”

Associated Press journalist Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.

Chagossians attend a protest to respond to the U.K. announcement agreeing to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians attend a protest to respond to the U.K. announcement agreeing to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Mary Marjorie Sophie, center, and other Chagossians attend a protest to respond to the U.K. announcement agreeing to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians attend a protest to response the U.K. announcement to agree to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians attend a protest to response the U.K. announcement to agree to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians Lucy Sagai, center, attends a protest to response the U.K. announcement to agree to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians Marie Michele, right, attends a protest to respond to the U.K. announcement agreeing to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians attend a protest to response the U.K. announcement to agree to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossians Whitney Tranquille, center, attends a protest to response the U.K. announcement to agree to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius and against their "Exclusion" from Chagos negotiations, outside the House of Parliament, in London, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day's outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”

The House approved Johnson's new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just after the deadline. At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“This is a good outcome for the country, ” Johnson said after the House vote, adding he had spoken with Trump and the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

President Joe Biden, who has played a less public role in the process throughout a turbulent week, was expected to sign the measure into law Saturday.

“There will be no government shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. And it raised stark questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry GOP colleagues, and work alongside Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who called the legislative plays from afar.

Trump's last-minute demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around his pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, since many Republican deficit hawks prefer to slash federal government and certainly wouldn’t allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Musk on social media ahead of the vote.

The drastically slimmed-down 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March 14 and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

Gone is Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It’s essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback — opposed by most Democrats and some of the most conservative Republicans — minus Trump’s debt ceiling demand.

But it's far smaller than the original bipartisan accord Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

House Democrats were cool to the latest effort after Johnson reneged on the hard-fought bipartisan compromise.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Trump and Republicans.

“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.

Still, the House Democrats put up more votes than Republicans for the bill's passage. Almost three dozen conservative House Republicans voted against it.

“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working-class Americans all across the nation,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, referring to Trump's “Make America Great Again” slogan.

In the Senate, almost all the opposition came from the Republicans — except independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Musk's interference was “not democracy, that's oligarchy.”

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.

The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees and is counting on Republicans for a big tax package. And Trump's not fearful of shutdowns the way lawmakers are, having sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House.

“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.

More important for the president-elect was his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires Jan. 1, and Trump doesn't want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation's borrowing capacity. Now Johnson will be on the hook to deliver.

“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a new five-year debt limit increase. "Without this, we should never make a deal."

Government workers had already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown that would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without paychecks.

Biden has been in discussions with Jeffries and Schumer, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”

As the day dragged on, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stepped in to remind colleagues “how harmful it is to shut the government down, and how foolish it is to bet your own side won’t take the blame for it.”

At one point, Johnson asked House Republicans at a lunchtime meeting for a show of hands as they tried to choose the path forward.

It wasn’t just the shutdown, but the speaker’s job on the line. The speaker’s election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, and some Trump allies have floated Musk for speaker.

Johnson said he spoke to Musk ahead of the vote Friday and they talked about the “extraordinary challenges of this job.”

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., emerges from a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., emerges from a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., talks with reporters after attending a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House works on a spending bill to avert a shutdown of the Federal Government, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump poses for a photo with Dana White, Kid Rock and Elon Musk at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks briefly to reporters just before a vote on an interim spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. The vote failed to pass. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)