British double standards on Chagos Islands, Mauritius, angers Africa to the bone marrow
from HANSLEY NABAB in Port Louis, Mauritius
PORT LOUIS, (CAJ News) – THE call by the United Kingdom (UK) on Russia to withdraw its military forces and return Crimea to Ukraine exposes the hypocrisy by the European country, which recently defied orders by international courts to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
In recent days, UK has been calling on the international community to support the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on a withdrawal by Russia.
Ironically, it is the same UN whose order the European country (UK) defied when it failed to comply with the statute to hand over Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
“We are deeply concerned about Russia’s continued destabilising actions on the peninsula. We must stand together against such hostile acts,” the UK stated.
However, the former coloniser has come under immense criticism for its double standards.
“Any update on when you’ll be handing the Chagos Islands back to the people you illegally evicted to make way for a giant United Sates military base? Because you kind of ignored that UN-mandated deadline in November,” analyst, Kit Klarenberg, quipped.
The analyst was referring to the UK’s ignoring a deadline in late November to cease control of Chagos Islands to the island nation of Mauritius.
The UN had given the former coloniser six months to surrender the territory measuring 56,13 km².
Another analyst, Robert Campbell, also questioned UK’s moral authority in calling for the international pressure on Russia to cede Crimea, yet the UK had blatantly disregarded the UN order to cede Chagos Islands.
“When is UK going to comply and hand back the Chagos islands, with full financial compensation?” Campbell asked.
The UK government insists it does not recognise Mauritius’ claim to sovereignty.
The European country granted Mauritius independence in 1968 but the Chagos Islands remained under the coloniser’s control, becoming what is called British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
UK leased the area to its ally, the United States, which set up a naval base called Diego Garcia.
In setting up the facility, 2 000 Chagossians who occupied the island were expelled in 1966. Most of them were moved to Mauritius and Seychelles islands.
The US has a lease elapsing at least 2036.
Isabel Oliveira, another political commentator, queried UK’s grasp of the situation prevailing between Crimea.
“Crimeans decided to be part of Russia via a referendum. They did so to escape the neo-Nazis UK put in power in Ukraine,” Oliviera said.
Crimea, a peninsula measuring 27 000 km², became part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1921 as the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which became part of the Soviet Union in 1922.
A 2014 referendum on joining Crimea, with a population of more than 2,284 million people, with Russia was supported by a majority of voters according to official counts.
“The UK, on the other hand, evicted the indigenous population of the Chagos Island to gift it to the USA for a military base-Diego Garcia. UK is rogue,” Oliviera stated.
Tensions are destabilising Crimea, which in turn is dividing the UN General Assembly. A majority has voted for a withdrawal of Russian forces but a majority of the 193-member Assembly have abstained or declined to vote.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Ukranian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have met in France and agreed to revive the peace process.
– CAJ News