African Experts Condemn UK-US Continuous Hold On Mauritius Chagos Islands

Recent reports that the United Kingdom (UK) is planning to abandon its earlier plan to handover the Chagos Archipelago (Chagos Islands) to Mauritius, its rightful owner, have triggered condemnation from African experts, who blamed this development on pressure from the US President, Donald Trump.

Despite the treaty between UK and Mauritius, signed in May last year, the UK has not ratified it unless parliament enacts legislation. But the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill has run out of time in the Lords and  reports have it that the UK government does not intend to include legislation for ratification in the King’s Speech next month.

The African Union  and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, has for several years, expressed concern on the unlawful excision of the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, from the territory of Mauritius by the United Kingdom.

The former colonial power, prior to the independence of Mauritius, acted in violation of international law and UN Resolutions 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 and 2066 (XX) of 16 December 1965 which prohibit colonial powers from dismembering colonial territories prior to granting independence, as well as UN Resolutions 2232 (XXI) of 20 December 1966 and 2357(XXII) of 19 December 1967.

Chagos Islands host the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base and the change of plan by the UK is possibly under intense pressure by US President Donald Trump, who in January lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” over the deal.

It was reported that the UK parliament is finding it difficult to ratify the treaty because of the US alliance, which remains the cornerstone of the UK national defence and the Diego Garcia military base is a joint UK-US military facility.

Speaking to our Correspondent on Saturday, International Constitutional law expert, Livingstone Wechie, said  it was a case of historic error, stressing that the world has come to the reality that independence of states cannot be compromised or interfered with on account of the strength of the interfering state giving the sanctity of state sovereignty.

He said “The continuous hold of the Chagos Island of Mauritius by the United Kingdom and the United States of America is a grim trial against Africa and the quest against background colonisation, slavery and diplomatic intimidation against the continent.

He said further that it is absolutely unacceptable that an African territory is still at the parliamentary discretion of British imperialism, adding that if the British and American government consider Diego Garcia as a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US, they must respect Mauritius to exercise the first right of refusal to determine the territory by reaching a mutual compromise that is voluntarily beneficial to Mauritius.

He said “The era where the global west under any guise will subordinate any part of the global south should never be condoned in this contemporary time. It must be stated that whatever security interest that has compelled the interest of America and the UK must be of Mauritius and African benefit at an equal ratio without prejudice.

“To this end, it is an irreducible minimum demand that the UK and the US must acknowledge and surrender that territory without any conditionality back to Mauritius. It stands sacred provided any further use or occupation of the territory must be with the voluntary consent of Mauritius on mutually agreed terms.

“To bully an African state over their sovereignty will question the genuineness of their intentions because the unacceptable outcome is to undermine and compromise the decolonization efforts of Africa and a diplomatic nuclear war against Africa’s development options.”

Another expert, who does not want his name on print because of the sensitive nature of his office, said “it is a slap on the face of Africa, and the African leaders must intensify their effort to ensure that this territory is returned to the rightful owner.”

“Africa cannot be continuously relegated to a place of insignificance in global affairs on issues bothering on power, security and territory by the US and UK,” he added.

The Island appears to be a new place of global contestations at this critical time of war between the US-Iran against Iran.

The UK spokesperson in a statement said “we have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support”, adding that the legislation to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius was due to run out of time in parliament and a new bill was not expected to be put forward, the BBC reported, citing UK government officials.

Trump in January criticized the deal calling it London’s “great stupidity” and according to The Times, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government stood by the deal but acknowledged that it could not proceed without Trump’s backing.

Last May, Britain agreed to hand back sovereignty to Mauritius while maintaining a lease on Diego Garcia, the largest island, which is home to the military base now used by the United States.

Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed, but launched a scathing attack on it in Truth Social comments in January.

Diego Garcia was one of two bases that the UK allowed the US to use for what the British government insisted were “defensive operations” in its war against Iran.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s. But it evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius and the African Union, in its effort to ensure total decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago, took part in the oral hearing before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018.

AU took part in the public hearings before the ICJ on the request for an advisory opinion regarding the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Request for Advisory Opinion).

In the hearings between 3 and 6 September 2018, the ICJ heard oral pleadings from six (6) African countries namely; Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia and sixteen others including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the US and others.