(MENAFN) The British government is expected to spend far more than officially stated to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, according to reports.

The Chagos archipelago, consisting of over 60 islands, was separated from Mauritius by Britain in 1965, three years before the country gained independence. In 1966, the largest island, Diego Garcia, was leased to the US for military purposes, displacing around 2,000 inhabitants. Mauritius has long sought to reclaim the islands, and in 2019 the International Court of Justice advised that the UK should end its administration “as rapidly as possible.”

In May, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed an agreement transferring sovereignty to Mauritius. The deal allows London and Washington to retain control of the joint military base on Diego Garcia for an initial 99-year period, with an earlier report valuing the arrangement at $3.9 billion.

Documents from the Government Actuary’s Department, however, suggest that total payments over the 99-year leaseback could approach £35 billion ($47.1 billion), far exceeding the official figure of £3.4 billion ($4.6 billion). Starmer reportedly told the House of Commons that estimates of £9 billion ($12.1 billion) and £18 billion ($24.2 billion) were “absolutely wide of the mark.”

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