Yameen to send letter to ITLOS over Chagos; parties invited to sign
Mauritius went to ITLOS to separate territorial waters from the Maldives based on the ICJ's recommendations.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
Opposition leader and former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has decided to send a letter to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), an international oceans tribunal that is looking into the issue of demarcation of territorial waters between the Maldives and Chagos, and has invited several parties to sign the letter.
The case filed by Mauritius at ITLOS on the September 2019 sought for demarcation of the overlapping terrirotial waters between Maldives and the Chagos archipelago, which is internationally recognised as islands under Mauritian sovereignty, is to be concluded on Friday.
PNC President Abdul Raheem Abdulla, who is temporarily in charge of running the coalition, announced the decision to send Yameen's letter to ITLOS at a press conference held at the party office on Wednesday.
At the press conference, Abdul Raheem said Yameen was the first person to take the lead on national issues such as the Chagos issue. Describing Yameen as a "very patriotic leader", Abdul Raheem said he would not accept the loss of even an inch of the country's soil.
"He has now asked me to write to ITLOS on the issue [saying that this cannot be done]. The reason is that it is a matter of the rights of the people of the country. People don't agree with the way things are being done now," Abdul Raheem said.
"I invite leaders of other parties who want to sign the letter to sign it. We will provide that opportunity to those who believe this to be a national issue."
After the press conference, party spokesperson Heena Waleed said in a message to the party's media group that the invitation had been sent to five parties. These include:
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MDA and Adhaalath Party who are to form a second-term alliance with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
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Jumhooree Party, which has decided to contest the upcoming presidential election separately even if it is part of the coalition of the current government
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Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom's MRM
The opposition on Wednesday wrote to various institutions seeking clarification on the government's stand on the Chagos issue. These institutions are:
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Attorney General's Office
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Foreign ministry
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Prosecutor General's Office
Abdul Raheem also announced that the party has changed the name of its ‘Kothalhu’ ( plastic bag) rally to 'Cha-Goas' (alliterated to sound like Chagos, and means not right) planned for Friday.
In the case:
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When the UN General Assembly sought the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advice, in 2019, they suggested that the Chagos islands were under Mauritius sovereignty
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In the same year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on United Kingdom to hand over Chagos to Mauritius within six months
Mauritius went to ITLOS to separate territorial waters from the Maldives based on the ICJ's earlier recommendations.
The Maldives had voted against the UN resolution at the time, but in August 2022, the country's stand was changed to that of Mauritius. This was revealed by Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath during hearings in October.
According to the UN convention on the oceans, 200 miles from the dry land or coast of countries having sea in the vicinity can be declared an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of a country.
Mauritius wants the area around Chagos to be included in its EEZ under this policy. The Maldives state objected to the idea, arguing that Chagos was a part of Mauritius, but wanted boundary lines to be drawn from the coast.
