UK must hand back territories to Mauritian control

The British Empire not only created carnage and destruction when it was in full swing, but appears to have left a damaging legacy many years on with territorial and sovereignty disputes still marking the agendas of various arbitration courts around the world.

The maritime tribunal of the United Nations has ruled that Britain no longer has sovereignty over the Chagos islands and has highly condemned London for its failure to hand back the occupied territories to Mauritian control.

The law has been broken, self determination has not been respected, human rights have been violated.

Mauritius, is entitled to exercise control, sovereignty if you like, over these islands, as rapidly as possible.

Faced with that, I suspect the United Kingdom will say to itself, what resistance can we put up to moving forward, and particularly in the context of Brexit, as the United Kingdom finds itself a little bit isolated in the world.

Philippe Sands, Chagos Island’s Lawyer

The ruling comes after several other high profile courts agreed that Britain had no business occupying the islands, including judgments from the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as well as the United Nations General Assembly, all of whom have voted and make clear their rulings.

Chagos Islands ruling

The Maritime Law Tribunal of the United Nations has ruled that Britain has no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

The British government, however, has stated that they remain adamant that their seizure of the island is legal and legitimate with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, stating that the UK has no doubt as to its sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean territory, which it claims has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814.

The statement went on to say, Mauritius has never held sovereignty over the BIOT and the UK does not recognize its claim. However, Mauritius has deeply disputed the British claim to the island with the Prime Minister of the country, Pravind Jugnauth, stating that the judgment is very clear, and that the Chagos islands falls under the authority of Mauritius.

The United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring an end to its administration of the Chagos archipelago, as rapidly as possible, thereby enabling Mauritius to complete the decolonization of its territory.

Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, Presiding Judge, International Court of Justice

With the ruling being one of many against the British, what now remains to be seen is whether Whitehall will take steps to abide by international law and declaration, or will it use its upcoming presidency of the United Nations Security Council to buy time and divert attention away from its illegal occupation of yet another territory that has no legal business under the banner of London's control?

Mass deportations to make room for US air base

As if claiming the Chagos islands was not enough, the British took the highly tactical and strategically placed islands to a whole new level. When in the 1970s it deported around 2000 islanders off the island of Diego Garcia, it was in order to make way for a US airbase, which was leased to the Americans by the British.

The base became a highly prized outpost for the US which has deployed 1000s of personnel to the camp, as well as placing some of its most destructive weaponry at the base, including B 52 bombers, the B 2 stealth bomber, and a range of fighter aircraft, ready to patrol and intercept.

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The native Chagossians, in the meantime, we're shipped off to Mauritius, and the Reunion islands, stripped of their land, legacy and history and forgotten about by the British.

However, public awareness and attention was raised with a view to compensating the people of the islands. Yet, in spite of some 40 million pounds being promised to the Chagossians, a mere 12,000 pounds has reached the victims, one wonders just where the rest of the money has gone.

The forgotten rock

But it's not just the Chagos islands, there are similar claims by other states over British rule. Gibraltar, for example, is another strategically placed point which has come under scrutiny, in particular, as Britain recently forgot about the rock in its recent Brexit negotiations, leaving Spain to take semi control of the borders for now and allowing Gibraltar to enjoy many EU benefits in the process.

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lIslas Malvinas is another example of a disputed Island territory, between Argentina and Britain, having previously gone to war over the sovereignty of the island.

However, with the notion that international law is starting to deliver results against the British could the Malvinas and Argentina also follow the route of the Chagossians and call the British out when it comes to the land?

It seems the seeds have already been sown by Buenos Aires to start the process, spelling darker times ahead for Britain.

The new (continental) platform is a second Argentina that belongs to us, which is inherent to Argentina itself; it has 1,300,000 square kilometers, obviously covering the areas of the (islands) Malvinas, Georgias and Sandwich, the adjacent ones.

Felipe Sola, Argentine Foreign Minister

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