Britain separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965 before it became independent in 1968. A leaked internal Foreign Office memo notoriously belittled the Chagossians as “a few Tarzans and Man Fridays”.

LONDON (AP) — A British court said Thursday that the U.K. can transfer sovereignty over the contested and strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius, overturning a block that was imposed hours before the agreement was due to be signed.

A ceremony transferring sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius was called off at the last moment after the High Court in London granted an injunction to islanders.