Request for an Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (2017)

In its resolution 71/292 of 22 June 2017, the GA requested an ICJ advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (A/RES/71/292). This was not the first time the GA had considered the status of the territory. In 2011, the GA had passed a resolution noting that it was “deeply concerned about the fact that, fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration, colonialism has not yet been totally eradicated” (A/RES/65/118). However, GA consideration of the issue in 2017 appeared partly prompted by the determination of African Union Heads of State to increase efforts towards the complete decolonization of Mauritius.¹

The GA requested an opinion on whether the “process of decolonization of Mauritius was lawfully completed when Mauritius was granted independence in 1968, following the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius”, as well as the legal consequences “arising from the continued administration by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the Chagos Archipelago” (A/RES/71/292). The GA also recalled its resolution 2066 (XX) of 16 December 1965, inviting the UK to “take no action which would dismember the Territory of Mauritius and violate its territorial integrity” (A/RES/2066 (XX)).

In its ensuing advisory opinion on 25 February 2019, the ICJ found that “as a result of the Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new colony … the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not lawfully completed” in 1968.² Further, the UK had “an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible”.³ Notably, in addressing the resettlement of Mauritian nationals on the Chagos Archipelago, the ICJ concluded that “this is an issue relating to the protection of the human rights of those concerned, which should be addressed by the General Assembly during the completion of the decolonization of Mauritius”.⁴

A few months later on 22 May 2019, the GA adopted resolution 73/295, welcoming the ICJ’s advisory opinion and demanding that the UK “withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within a period of no more than six months from the adoption of the present resolution” (A/RES/73/295). The resolution passed with 116 for, 6 against (the UK, the Maldives, the US, Australia, Israel and Hungary), and 56 abstentions.