Mauritius in fight for islands

Mauritius is to challenge the United Kingdom before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the Chagos Islands which Port Louis says it was stripped of during the colonial era and now serves as a major United States military base.

This week, the ICJ will decide if colonial deals that redrew African borders can be declared illegal and, if so, if islands taken by the UK from the nation of Mauritius can be rejoined to it, GIN Media reported.

The four-day session will hear representatives from 22 countries in a dispute over the rights of exiled islanders to return.

In 1965 when Britain decided to separate Mauritius from the archipelago, the island had little say over the matter because the choice was accept the deal or never obtain independence.

The Mauritian government is arguing that the move breached United Nations resolution 1514, passed in 1960, which specifically banned the breakup of colonies before independence.

Chagos Islands’ biggest island, Diego Garcia, has served as a military base since 1966 after the population of 1 500 people was forced to leave. – ANA