Now, the UN Court has ruled that the archipelago should go back to its original inhabitants. But there is a tricky lease.
The decades of British rule over the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean are illegal. This was certified by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) according to reports by the British „Guardian“ in a report. „It is Britain’s duty to withdraw from the island as soon as possible,“ said Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, president of the court. The report is not binding under international law, but has a high symbolic value.
The judges awarded the island state of Mauritius the legitimate administration of the Chagos archipelago. Originally the area had belonged to Mauritius – in 1965, however, shortly before the independence of Mauritius, London separated the islands and kept them as a colony. Legal representatives for Mauritius see this as a violation of a UN resolution that prohibits such a breakup of colonies before their independence.
In the early 1970s, the British drove a total of 1500 inhabitants of the archipelago. In addition, they leased the area (now called British Indian Ocean Territory) to the United States – there maintain a strategically important air base. Among other things, the US operates a prison camp there, which is supposed to resemble the Guantanamo prison.
The secession of the Chagos Islands of Mauritius was not based on a „free decision of the affected people“, according to IGH President Yusuf. Thus it violates the right of self-determination of the peoples. Mauritius had testified that he had been forced by Britain to abandon the archipelago.
The court had been instructed by the UN General Assembly to give its opinion on the dispute. Now the case is expected to go back to the UN General Assembly. There will then be a debate again – especially on the question of whether the displaced residents can ever return to their island. The court’s verdict went from 13 to one. The only dissenting vote came from an American.
