The suggestion, proposal, or idea or however you may wish to call it is not new. Still, the UK government’s recent decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, to the Republic of Mauritius has caused outrage from some and disbelief from others. Still, it has again brought to discussion if other Overseas Territories such as the Falkland Islands and/or Gibraltar need to have representation at Westminster.
The agreement demonstrates the UK government’s commitment to safeguarding global security and averting threats to peace and prosperity in the Indian Ocean and wider Indo-Pacific. It sees Mauritius assume sovereignty over BIOT, with the UK authorized to exercise the sovereign rights of Mauritius on Diego Garcia.
The Government of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed Thursday to hand over sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Islands to Mauritius after two years of talks to bring to an end a dispute lasting some six decades. As per the new understanding, the UK and the United States get to keep using the military base in Diego García Island, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy explained.
Another invasion of a British Overseas Territory, peaceful, but which included the flag raising of the disputed islands alleged claimants, plus a presidential message, and the small party dancing of joy for their recovered land? Yes and No.
At least 40 dolphins have mysteriously died in an area of Mauritius affected by an oil spill from a Japanese boat, officials and witnesses said on Friday, as onlookers described the deaths of one mother dolphin and her baby.
The UK has been accused of committing “crimes against humanity” for refusing to allow people to return to their former homes on the Chagos Islands, despite a ruling earlier this year by the United Nation's highest court.
United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly demanded on Wednesday that Britain give up control over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean within six months, dealing a diplomatic blow to Britain and the United States.
UK should end its control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean as rapidly as possible, the UN's highest court has said. Mauritius claims it was forced to give up the islands - now a British overseas territory - in 1965 in exchange for independence, which it gained in 1968.
The UN's top court will hand down its view on Monday, February 25, in a bitter dispute between Britain and Mauritius over the fate of the Chagos islands, home to key UK and US military base.
The British government has been accused of threatening a close ally in an increasingly bitter diplomatic tug-of-war over the fate of a tiny, strategic archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean.