Chagos Archipelago

For the current de facto administration, see British Indian Ocean Territory.

Chagos Archipelago
Disputed islands
Map of the Chagos Archipelago
Chagos Archipelago is located in Indian Ocean
Chagos Archipelago
Location of the Chagos Archipelago (circled)
Geography
LocationIndian Ocean
Coordinates6°00′S 71°30′E / 6.000°S 71.500°E / -6.000; 71.500
Major islandsDiego Garcia, Peros Banhos, Salomon Islands, Egmont Islands
Area56.13 km2 (21.67 sq mi)
Administration
Territory British Indian Ocean Territory
Claimed by
 Mauritius
(per international law)[1][failed verification]
Outer IslandsChagos Archipelago
Demographics
DemonymChagossian
Chagos Islander
Population≈3,000 (Eclipse Point Town) (2014)
Ethnic groups

The Chagos Archipelago (/ˈtʃɑːɡəs, -ɡoʊs/) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas,[2] and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a long submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean.[3] In its north are the Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos; towards its south-west are the Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Egmont Islands and Danger Island; southeast of these is Diego Garcia, by far the largest island. All are low-lying atolls, save for a few extremely small instances, set around lagoons.

The Chagos Islands had been home to the Chagossians, a Bourbonnais Creole-speaking people, until the United Kingdom expelled them from the archipelago at the request of the United States between 1967 and 1973 to allow the United States to build Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, a military base on Diego Garcia, on land leased from the UK military in the British Indian Ocean Territories. Since 1971, only the atoll of Diego Garcia has been inhabited, and only by employees of the US military, including American civilian contracted personnel. Since being expelled, Chagossians, like all others not permitted by the UK or US governments, have been prevented from entering the islands.

When Mauritius was a French colony, the islands were a dependency of the French administration in Mauritius (Île Maurice). By the Treaty of Paris of 1814, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom.

In 1965, while planning for Mauritian independence, the UK constituted the Chagos as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).[4][5] Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968, and has since claimed the Chagos Archipelago as Mauritian territory.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a non-binding advisory opinion stating that the UK "has an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible, and that all Member States must co-operate with the United Nations to complete the decolonization of Mauritius".[6] In December of that year, the Sega tambour Chagos music genre was recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage from Mauritius.[7] In January 2021, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution proclaiming this.[8] In 2021, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea confirmed for its jurisdiction that the UK has "no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands", and thus the islands should be handed back to Mauritius.[8][9]

In August 2021, the Universal Postal Union banned BIOT stamps from being used in the BIOT, a move Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth called a "big step in favour of the recognition of the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chago".[10] In the same year, Mauritius amended its Criminal Code to outlaw "misrepresenting the sovereignty of Mauritius over any part of its territory", with the penalty of a fine or jail term up to 10 years.[11] As the act is extraterritorial, it restricts the abilities of Chagossians both in Mauritius and around the world to voice their opinions on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.[12]

In October 2024, the British government announced it would hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius subject to finalisation of a treaty.[13] Some Chagossians have criticised the deal for not having included the Chagossian community in the decision-making process.[14] On the same day former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed commented that the decision to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite the Maldives' claims, was unacceptable.[15]

  1. ^ "British Indian Ocean Territory". CIA.gov. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Track of the Calcutta East Indiaman, over the Bassas de Chagas in the Indian Ocean". Catalogue.nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  3. ^ World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference real was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Nichols, Michelle (22 June 2017). "U.N. asks international court to advise on Chagos; Britain opposed". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965". International Court of Justice. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Sega tambour Chagos – Intangible Heritage – Culture Sector". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b "UN court rules UK has no sovereignty over Chagos islands". BBC News. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ Siddique, Haroon (16 May 2021). "UN favours Mauritian control of Chagos Islands by rejecting UK stamps". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  10. ^ "UN bans British stamps in Chagos island". The Hindu. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  11. ^ THE CRIMINAL CODE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2021 (PDF). 19 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  12. ^ Yuan, Yi Zhu (30 January 2024). "Britain should stand up to Mauritius". The Critic. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  13. ^ Harding, Andrew (3 October 2024). "UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  14. ^ Davies, Maia; Hagan, Rachel (3 October 2024). "Chagossians criticise lack of say in UK deal to hand over islands". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Nasheed says UK ceding Chagos to Mauritius unacceptable | Atoll Times". atolltimes.mv. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.