UK must hand over Chagos Islands earliest, to close a shameful period of British history
After the verdict of the International Court of Justice on Chagos ownership and India’s clear and firm stand on the subject, it seems that the UK has finally agreed to open negotiations with Mauritius over the return of the Chagos Islands, a territory forcibly seized by Britain in the Indian Ocean since 1814. Though a few years after their unceremonious exit from the Indian Subcontinent, they did reluctantly leave Mauritius but continued to forcibly retain the Chagos Islands.
Having realized the current Scenario in the Indian Ocean, the British Isles Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he wanted to “resolve all outstanding issues” over the archipelago. Though he was quick enough to add that the effective operation of the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia would be guaranteed.
Well first they must handover the Islands to Mauritius, thereafter India, Mauritius and USA can sit together to decide the future of Diego Garcia.This will be in the best interest of all the parties and naturally for the Indian Ocean Region. This is inevitable and both USA and UK must read the writings on the wall.
Mauritius as a country in general and forcibly displaced inhabitants of Chagos in particular have campaigned for decades to return to their home. More than 1,000 people were abused of their Human Rights, treated I humanly and forced to leave their islands in 1960s where they as a people had been living for centuries.
Diego Garcia is the largest of the 60 small islands of the Chagos archipelago. After the military base was established in 1966, the island’s inhabitants were expelled by the British and USA….imagine since last decade or two, politicians and academicians of these two countries along with their Research Think Tanks have on regular basis been issuing sermon on democracy, human rights and religious tolerance to rest of the world and even a country like India. The guts of their doublespeak has to be simply “ admired “.
Mauritius, which finally the British had to vacate and give independence in 1968, imagine lingering on for nearly 20 years after getting kicked out of India, maintains the islands belong to them. They have fought for their return in the British courts and in International Court of Justice whose verdicts have been quite clear. And yes now India too fully backs Mauritius on this.
The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, has ruled that the UK’s administration of the territory is “unlawful” and must end.
But until now the UK has resisted international pressure to begin talks about the islands. They better heed or one day they are going to be kicked out and rest be assured they will not be able to repeat a Falkland here, which too one day will become Malvina.
So now it is a welcome change from British obstinacy that in a written ministerial statement, Mr Cleverly announced: “The UK and Mauritius have agreed to engage in constructive negotiations, with a view to arriving at an agreement by early next year, 2023.
“Taking into account relevant legal proceedings, it is our intention to secure an agreement on the basis of international law to resolve all outstanding issues, including those relating to the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago.”
The foreign secretary confirmed the negotiations would include “the exercise of sovereignty”. The sovereignty is that of Mauritius and Brits should know that they will not be permitted to play the GREAT GAME like KASHMIR this time.
The move follows talks between Liz Truss, during her short time as prime minister, and Mauritian leader Pravind Jugnauth at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has long campaigned for the islanders and their descendants to have the right to return, told the BBC he was “very pleased” the UK had backed down on its long-standing refusal to negotiate. During the 2017 and 2019 general elections, under his leadership, Labour promised to allow the displaced persons to return to the archipelago.
Mr Corbyn – who now sits as independent MP, having had the Labour whip removed in 2020 – said the foreign secretary’s announcement was a “good step forward”, and he hoped an agreement with Mauritius would be reached within a short period of time.
He said it was high time a “shameful period of British history” came to an end.
He also paid tribute to the islanders for fighting an “amazing, doughty campaign over many decades”, adding that the news was proof “you should never give up”.
