Mauritius says Chagos natives will be able to resettle on islands after UK withdrawal

16 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Mauritius has guaranteed this Thursday that all people from the Chagos archipelago will be able to resettle on the islands once the United Kingdom formalizes its withdrawal from them, which it has occupied for more than five decades.

“All individuals of Chagossian origin, wherever they live in the world and who wish to resettle in the archipelago, may do so, in line with the laws of Mauritius,” the Executive said in a statement, according to the Maurice news portal. Info.

“The Government of Mauritius has always maintained that the forced displacement of the entire Chagossian community was something terribly wrong and that justice must be done,” he said, before betting on “an effective and rapid plan for resettlement.”

He has also thanked Human Rights Watch (HRW) for its “extensive” investigation, after the non-governmental organization accused the United Kingdom of crimes against humanity for its refusal to allow a group of residents to return to their homes. in the archipelago.

Following the publication of the report, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, stated on his Twitter account that he had had a “cordial” conversation with the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and stressed the commitment to “strengthen the excellent bilateral relations”.

“We also reviewed the ongoing negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago,” he said. For its part, the United Kingdom flatly rejected HRW’s accusations.

The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution in May 2019 demanding that the United Kingdom hand over control of the archipelago within six months, after the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in this regard.

The African country claims sovereignty over the archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean, and rejects the UK’s decision to separate the two territories in 1965 in exchange for the country’s independence. The London decision implied the transfer of the entire population of Chagos to Mauritius by the United Kingdom and at the request of the United States for the construction of its military base on the island of Diego García, the largest in the archipelago.