Risks of Racial Discrimination: Mauritius Rejects UN Decision on the Chagos Islands

Mauritius firmly rejects the decision of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and maintains its schedule for ratifying the treaty concerning the Chagos Islands. The government has formally responded to CERD's Decision 1/2025. This UN body had instructed Mauritius and the United Kingdom on December 8 to suspend the ratification of the treaty pertaining to the Chagos archipelago, citing risks of racial discrimination. The Mauritian document, imbued with diplomatic firmness, reaffirms the country’s founding principles while contesting the scope of this injunction.

"The Government of the Republic of Mauritius has taken note of Decision 1/2025 from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, published on its website on December 8, 2025, instructing the Republic of Mauritius and the United Kingdom to refrain from continuing the ratification of the treaty on the Chagos," states a communiqué released on Friday evening. Mauritius, which has consistently defended its sovereignty over the Chagos Islands—illegally detached by the United Kingdom in 1965 for the establishment of a U.S. military base—emphasizes that this decision comes amidst a long-awaited decolonization process.

"The Government of the Republic of Mauritius believes that this decision contradicts the fundamental principles of natural justice, fairness, and the rule of law. Consequently, the Government of the Republic of Mauritius has sent correspondence to the President of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination."

In this correspondence, the government argues that "since the issue concerning the situation of the Chagossians remained a priority on the Committee's Agenda as of May 6, 2025, there was, at this stage and according to related procedures, no justification for invoking the use of rapid alert measures and emergency intervention procedures as the basis for Decision 1/2025, in the absence of repeated acts of racial discrimination against the Chagossians with a risk of exacerbation or deterioration of the conflict."

The Mauritian government insists that there is no immediate basis for this precautionary measure. "Secondly, Decision 1/2025 does not demonstrate how the ratification of the treaty between the Republic of Mauritius and the United Kingdom would create a situation of racial discrimination against the Chagossians," the communiqué continues. It recalls that the treaty is specifically aimed at addressing past injustices: "Thirdly, Decision 1/2025 mentions the alleged violation of the right to self-determination that the Chagossians possess, while the International Court of Justice has clearly stated that this right belongs to all Mauritians, including the Chagossians."

Mauritius reiterates its intention to proceed with the ratification, considering the CERD's decision as non-binding. "Therefore, the Government of the Republic of Mauritius regrets Decision 1/2025 from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and requests that the correspondence sent to the President of the Committee be published alongside Decision 1/2025," asserts the text.