Establishing the right of self-determination for Chagossians of Maurittius: case of Chagos Islands (2015-2018).

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to establish evidences to the right of self-determination of Chagossians of Mauritius in light of the compulsory relocation from their motherland, Chagos Islands. The study was based on the liberal theories though the realism paradigm was applied as well in order to compare activities occurring on the international scene. The research methodology was a qualitative one using the case study research design. The purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify respondents with the right expertise of the subject under discussion. Questionnaires and interviews were used as data collection instruments while the documentary analysis was applied concurrently with data collection tools to review scholarly literature on the subject. Key informants for the research were political experts drawn from Chagossians, Mauritians, Britons and the Institute of Security Studies. Key findings of the research revealed that: a group of people has a right to self-determination if and only if it has suffered instances of injustices; UK’s objection to Chagossians right to self-determination was on the basis that the dispute was a bilateral issue; the Island was important to defend the UK and the rest of the world from terrorist attacks; the UK government had paid compensation to the Mauritian authorities and pertinent instruments of the UN such as Article 1, 55, 73, the UN Declaration on granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples and the Common Article 1 all refer to self-determination as a fundamental human right to peoples. Recommendations for this study included a vigorous dissemination of information regarding the Chagossians’ plight by SADC and AU; the UNGA must take an immediate action to implement the full decolonization process of Chagos Islands as well as measures to de-nuclearize the African continent. The recommended area of further research was on investigating why the Chagossians’ plight was not a topical issue frequently discussed in public at national, regional and international forums by the Mauritian authorities.