SAJ seeks international backing for Chagos issue

Never has the Chagos issue been in the limelight as it is to-day. The Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, stands at the tribune of the 71st United Nations General Assembly this Friday 23 September to voice his strong feelings about the dismantling of the Mauritian territory by the British colonial power in 1965, prior to the country’s independence.

This issue has been gaining wind since some time back and is to-day like a storm nearing the shores of Britain with the USA standing by waiting. Sir Anerood Jugnauth not only had to face the opposition here informing members at the National Assembly of progress made on the issue, he also had to convince members of the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement as well as friendly countries of the importance of the excision carried out by the United Kingdom in a blatant and shameful violation of international law and UN General Assembly Resolutions 1514(XV) of14 December 1960, 2066(XX) of 16 December 1965, 2232(xxi) of 20 December 1966 and 2357(xxii) of 19 December 1967.

In Photo: Diego Garcia – the largest atoll of the Chagos archipelago – is home to a US military base.

For the past 50 years, the former inhabitants of the Chagos and their descendants are crying loud claiming for their return to their homeland and for 48 years, successive prime ministers of Mauritius have stood at the UN general assembly requesting world leaders to lend a sympathetic ear to the request of Mauritius to have its sovereignty reinstituted over the archipelago.

The Prime Minister told the National Assembly repeatedly that the process of decolonisation of Mauritius and by extension that of Africa will remain incomplete without the restitution of the Chagos. This very year he asked the United Kingdom to return the archipelago to the effective control of Mauritius followed by an official letter to David Cameron fixing the end of June 2016 as deadline. The former UK prime minister replied that it would be appropriate that discussions take place with the next UK Government and that he would advise his successor to make necessary arrangements accordingly.  He also requested that Mauritius does not refer the Chagos Archipelago issue to the International Court of Justice.

Our Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Jagdish Koonjul, wrote on 14 July 2016 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to request, in accordance with Rule 13 of the Rules of Procedure of the United Nations General Assembly, the inclusion in the provisional agenda of the next session of the General Assembly of an item entitled “Request for an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965”. 

In Photo: Sir Anerood Jugnauth is adamant about taking the issue before the International Court of Justice and seeks UN ratification towards his action.

This now appears as an item of the agenda of the seventy first regular session of the General Assembly.

The African Union and the Non-Aligned Movement have consistently expressed support for Mauritius on the Chagos Archipelago issue, as evidenced by the various Declarations and Resolutions which they have adopted, including at the African Union Summit held in June 2015 and the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting held in May 2014.  At the last Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 and China held on the occasion of UNCTAD XIV, support was also expressed to Mauritius on the Chagos Archipelago issue.  

Mauritius actively canvassed the support of other members of the United Nations for its request for an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in respect of the Chagos Archipelago. 

Lalit secured more than a hundred signatures of parliamentarians taking part in an international conference held in Mauritius last month and the Attorney General went to Venezuela to lobby for the support of members of the Non-Aligned Movement during its Summit. Our Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York also actively sought the support of other UN Member States at various levels.

The Arbitral Tribunal in the case brought by Mauritius against the United Kingdom to challenge the legality of the ‘marine protected area’ which the United Kingdom purported to establish around the Chagos Archipelago delivered its Award on 18 March 2015. The Tribunal unanimously held that the purported ‘marine protected area’ violates international law.  It ruled that the United Kingdom had breached its obligations under Articles 2(3), 56(2) and 194(4) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Arbitral Tribunal also found that the United Kingdom’s commitments towards Mauritius in relation to fishing rights and oil and mineral rights in the Chagos Archipelago and its surrounding waters are legally binding.  Following the delivery of the Award, three meetings of senior officials from Mauritius and the United Kingdom have been held on 9 November 2015 in London, 11 May 2016 in Mauritius and 3 August 2016 in London.

Hardly any progress has been made in these three rounds of discussions in view of the differing interpretations of the Award by Mauritius and the United Kingdom.  A further round of talks is scheduled for end of October in Mauritius in relation to the implementation of the Award.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth received on 8 August 2016 a reply from Antony Blinken, US Deputy Secretary of State, to the letter written last June to President Obama. In his reply Blinken urged Mauritius not to take the issue of the Chagos Archipelago to the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice.  He also stressed that the US recognises UK’s sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago and that the Chagos Archipelago was essential for the security that the US and the UK provide around the world.  

The Prime Minister has shown Mauritius willingness to both US and the UK to grant a long term lease for the continued use of Diego Garcia for defence purposes; notwithstanding the assurances given to US, it remains stubbornly opposed to Mauritius exercising its sovereign rights over the Chagos Archipelago whilst Diego Garcia continues to be used for defence purposes.

In the meantime Theresa May is the new UK prime minister to whom Sir Anerood Jugnauth has reiterated that the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Archipelago is non-negotiable.  

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo made a speech at the G77 meeting, at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, that of the ACP countries as well as at the last Commonwealth Secretariat meeting in Nairobi this year stressing on the struggle of Mauritius to get back its sovereignty over the Chagos.

The Minister of Finance, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, told the media on Tuesday 20 September that during his official visit to India (13-18 September 2016) he met with the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shusma Swaraj and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, both reiterated their full support to Mauritius in its struggle to regain sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago.

As from to-day Friday 23 September the Chagos issue has taken a new turn with the world taking cognizance of what has happened in 1965, three years before Mauritius got its independence from Great Britain.