AFRICAN UNION ORDERS BRITAIN TO END COLONIAL RULE IN CHAGOS ISLANDS.

Chagossians protest against their deportation and impossibility to go back to the Chagos Archipelago.

A little-known group of Indian Ocean islanders, forcibly removed from their homes almost half-a-century ago and left to their own devices after being deported to England, are still fighting for recognition and basic rights.

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA:

Following a United Nations deadline for Britain to withdraw from th Chagos Islands, the African Union ordered Britain on Friday to end its “continued colonial administration” of the disputed Indian Ocean territory.

The location of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
Image:Bing Maps.

The Chagos Islands belong to the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, according to the advisory opinion the top U.N. court issued in February. The U.N. General Assembly in May voted in favour of Britain returning the islands to Mauritius and set a deadline for Nov. 22.

Britain has repeatedly said it would return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius when they are no longer needed for alleged ‘defence purposes’ in the Indian Ocean, yet it has never released a timeline for the return.

The legality of British actions is still disputed. On June, 2017, UN voted on a Mauritian resolution to refer the issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The spotlight is on Britain’s actions in 1965, when it decided to break up the Chagos Islands from the rest of the Indian Ocean colony, three years before Mauritius’ independence. Mauritius claim this was a breach of UN resolution 1514 of 1960 , which banned the break up colonies before independence.

In a statement the African Union called on Britain to comply with the U.N. resolution.

Britain does not recognise Mauritius’ sovereignty claim.

“The UK has no doubt as to our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Nov. 5.

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth called Britain’s refusal to give up control of the islands a violation of international law.

“The United Kingdom cannot profess to be a champion of the rule of law and human rights whilst maintaining an illegal colonial administration,” he told parliament on Thursday.

The only inhabited island of the Indian Ocean archipelago is home to the Diego Garcia U.S. military base, rented out by Britain and a bomber base for the Air Force.

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