Back النزاع على سيادة أرخبيل تشاغوس Arabic Conflicte territorial de l'arxipèlag de Chagos Catalan Disputa territorial del archipiélago de Chagos Spanish Sengketa kedaulatan Kepulauan Chagos ID

Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute

Islands of the Republic of Mauritius labelled in black

Sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago was disputed between Mauritius, Maldives and the United Kingdom. Mauritius has repeatedly stated that the Chagos Archipelago is part of its territory and that the United Kingdom claim is a violation of United Nations resolutions banning the dismemberment of colonial territories before independence. On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution declaring that the archipelago was part of Mauritius; 116 countries voted in favour of Mauritius while six opposed it.

The British government has declared that it has "no doubt" about its sovereignty over the Chagos, yet has also said that the Chagos will be returned to Mauritius once the islands are no longer required for military purposes. Given the absence of any meaningful progress with the United Kingdom, Mauritius took up the matter at various legal and political forums. In 2021, Mauritius amended its Criminal Code to outlaw "misrepresenting the sovereignty of Mauritius over any part of its territory", with the penalty of a fine or jail term up to 10 years.[1] As the act is extraterritorial, it restricts the abilities of Chagossians both in Mauritius and around the world to voice their opinions on the legal status of the Chagos Archipelago.[2]

On 3 November 2022, it was announced that the United Kingdon and Mauritius had decided to begin negotiations on sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, taking into account the recent international legal proceedings.[3] In December 2023, it was reported that the British government was planning to discontinue the talks.[4] However, in October 2024, it was announced that it had been agreed that sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory would eventually be handed over to Mauritius.[5]

  1. ^ THE CRIMINAL CODE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2021 (PDF). 19 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  2. ^ Yuan, Yi Zhu (30 January 2024). "Britain should stand up to Mauritius". The Critic. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-20221103 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Diver, Tony (1 December 2023). "UK drops plans to hand Chagos Islands back to Mauritius". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  5. ^ "UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius". BBC News.

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