Maldives defends UN vote on Chagos Islands dispute
The Maldives was among six countries that opposed demanding an end to British control.
23 May 2019, 9:00 AM
The Maldives government has defended its vote against a UN resolution calling on Britain to cede the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, contending that support would have undermined a bid to extend Maldivian territorial waters.
The Maldives stood out at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday with Britain, Australia, Hungary, Israel and the United States, which operates a military base on the island of Diego Garcia about 310 miles south of the Maldives, prompting criticism for siding with the small minority. Some 116 countries voted in favour and 56 countries abstained despite lobbying by the UK and US.
The non-binding resolution – which cannot be enforced but reflects global opinion – endorsed an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that Britain had wrongfully detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from its former colony Mauritius.
An estimated 1,800 Diego Garcia islanders were forcibly evicted to construct the joint US-UK airbase. The exiled Chagossians live mainly in the UK, Seychelles and Mauritius.
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