After challenging the UK’s ownership on Chagos Islands by planting the national flag during a state-funded trip, Mauritius has this time taken on Google over the labelling of the Chagos Islands on Google maps.
The UK maintains that it still holds sovereignty over what it terms British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) – even if Mauritius has been recognised as legitimate owner of the archipelago in a series of international court judgments and United Nations votes since 2019.
In an article published on 21 February, The Guardian newspaper reported that Mauritius has formally asked Google to re-describe the islands as part of its territory.
“Letters seen by The Guardian have been sent to the search engine’s California headquarters requesting that BIOT, which includes the strategic US military base of Diego Garcia, be wiped off the map,” The Guardian reported.
Mauritius reportedly first sent a request in January 2020 to Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer at Google. According to The Guardian, the island asked the company to “rectify this error immediately” and included as evidence references to the advisory opinion of the international court of justice in The Hague.
The judgment said the UK “unlawfully” detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius prior to granting it independence in 1968. Mauritius said that an overwhelming majority vote by the United Nations General Assembly adopted the court’s opinion and “demanded that the United Kingdom terminate its unlawful colonial administration”.
The letter reportedly said the “error could be interpreted as tacit approval … of the UK’s unlawful administration”. The islands, it added, should be marked “Chagos Archipelago (Republic of Mauritius)”.
Two further requests were sent by Mauritius criticising the “mislabelling”, but no change has yet been made online, the newspaper said.
“Legal proceedings, Mauritius has warned, could be brought against Google,” The Guardian reported.
It cited Jagdish Koonjul, the Mauritian ambassador to the United Nations, as saying: “We never received a reply. It’s disappointing. One would have assumed that Google would be the ideal place to obtain information and that whatever they are [displaying] would be accurate. What they are showing is incorrect.”
The Google Maps search engine, when it locates BIOT, merely explains that it is “a disputed British Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia”.
After being approached by the Guardian, Google reportedly said it was looking into the matter.
By contrast, Apple Maps reportedly agreed to change its labelling. Searches for both “BIOT” and “British Indian Ocean Territory” on Apple Maps produce the response “No results found”.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “The UK has no doubt as to our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, which we have held continuously since 1814. Mauritius has never held sovereignty over the territory and the UK does not recognise its claim.”
Original article at The Guardian
