Mauritius presses claim against U.K. for islands
BANGKOK — 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 Criminal Court, which said that Britain had unlawfully carved up Mauritius, an archipelago nation whose main island is some 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 U.N. 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.
Britain, which calls the archipelago a “British Indian Ocean Territory,” has refused to abide by the non-binding decisions. It has argued that the Chagos archipelago has been under its sovereignty since 1814 and that its continued presence there is strategically important.
Britain’s Foreign Office did not comment on the sovereignty question, but said Mauritius had “notified the U.K. about its plans to conduct a scientific survey close to the Chagos Islands.”
“The U.K. gave assurances to Mauritius that it would not interrupt the survey,” the Foreign Office said.
Jugnauth has repeatedly said that ending the British administrationwould have no implications for the U.S. military base at Diego Garcia. Britain sealed a deal in 1966 allowing the U.S. to use Diego Garcia for defense purposes. The U.S. maintains a base there for aircraft and ships and has backed Britain in the legal dispute with Mauritius.