CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO – INTERNATIONAL
ISSUES
News: General Assembly Welcomes
International Court of Justice Opinion on Chagos Archipelago, Adopts Text
Calling for Mauritius’ Complete Decolonization
What's in the news?
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The General Assembly adopted a resolution today
welcoming an International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the legal
consequences of separating the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965,
demanding that the United Kingdom unconditionally withdraw its colonial
administration from the area within six months.
Chagos Archipelago:
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The Chagos Islands or Chagos Archipelago are a group of seven atolls comprising more
than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian
Ocean about 500 kilometres south of
the Maldives archipelago.
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This chain of islands is the southernmost
archipelago of the Chagos-Laccadive
Ridge, a long submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean.
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It is officially
part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Backdrop of the Chagos
Archipelago Dispute:
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Chagos Archipelago has been part of Mauritius since
at least the 18th century when France governed it.
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In 1810, Mauritius was captured by the United
Kingdom and France ceded the territory in the Treaty of Paris.
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In 1965, three years before Mauritius got its
independence, Britain separated the Chagos islands to carve out a ‘British
Indian Ocean Territory’.
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In 1966, the UK
leased Diego Garcia (the biggest island in the Chagos archipelago) to the US to
create an air & naval base.
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For constructing the defence installation, the
inhabitants of the island were forcibly removed.
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In 1968 Mauritius was granted independence.
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In February 2019, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that Britain has an obligation to end
its administration of the Chagos Archipelago — home to the U.S. military base
of Diego Garcia — and complete the process of decolonisation of Mauritius.
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In May 2019, the UN General Assembly passed a
resolution asking the U.K. to withdraw its “colonial administration” from the
Chagos Archipelago within six months.
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Mauritius wants its sovereignty over the islands restored.