Mauritius island
Mauritius Presses Claim for Indian Ocean Islands Under ‘Unlawful’ UK Administration
The ICJ founded in 2019 that Mauritius is the rightful owner of the Chagos Islands, which are currently administered by Britain and host a crucial U.S. military base.
A delegation from Mauritius is set to sail Tuesday to the Chagos Islands to press the country’s claim for the strategically important Indian Ocean archipelago, which is also claimed by Britain and is home to an American military base.
It is the first time Mauritius has embarked upon an expedition to the islands without seeking the permission of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said in a statement, adding it is a “concrete step” in “exercising its sovereignty and sovereign rights in relation to the Chagos Archipelago.”
Those rights were strengthened in 2019 by a non-binding opinion from the International Court of Justice, which said that Britain had unlawfully carved up Mauritius, an archipelago nation whose main island is some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the southeast coast of Africa. The Chagos islands were a part of Mauritius until Britain separated them a few years before Mauritius became independent from British colonial rule in 1968.
The United Nations General Assembly followed that opinion with a resolution two months later demanding that Britain end its “colonial administration” of the Chagos Islands, which include the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, and return them to Mauritius. Even Pope Francis weighed in, saying that Britain should obey the U.N. resolution.
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