Written questions, answers and statements

British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty

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Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN 152517, tabled on 10 February 2021

Question

Lisa Nandy
Labour
Wigan
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking in response to (a) UN General Assembly resolution 73/295 and (b) the judgment of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 28 January 2021 on the future sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago.

Answer

Nigel Adams
Conservative
Selby and Ainsty
Commons

Answered on

22 February 2021

The United Kingdom voted against General Assembly resolution 73/295 and we remain firmly of the view that the International Court of Justice and General Assembly are not the appropriate fora for resolving what is fundamentally a bilateral matter of disputed sovereignty between two UN member states. The resolution is non-binding. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom contributed to the Secretary-General's report, made pursuant to the resolution.

The UK was not a party to the proceedings of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which have no effect for the UK or for maritime delimitation between the UK (in respect of the British Indian Ocean Territory) and the Republic of the Maldives.

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
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