On the French site, Inodra pointed to a French article about the territorial dispute between Mauritius and the UK over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. The dispute includes the right to strike BIOT medal-coins and recognize (or not) British stamps on letters and parcels sent oversees from the Chagos Islands.
The international community is with Mauritius on this issue. The British had been ordered in May 2019 to vacate by November, but this UN order was ignored.
If or when this happens, it may lead to numismatic and philatelic issues ─ perhaps even in the name of those islands?
It’s unlikely the uk will leave the chagos islands for the foreseeable future not least because the US will want to keep the Diego Garcia military base there as the “indo-pacific theatre” becomes more and more a focal point of global geopolitics.
Mauritius is of course in the right, but might is more important (and for the record, I’m not saying it’s UK that has the might, rather the US)
The Mauritians are understandably angry - considering that the U.K. has been found guilty of some serious breaches of international law.
Australia is also guilty of serious breaches of international law as well - especially in relation to the takeover of Norfolk Island without consent from the people who live on Norfolk Island.
The military base on Diego Garcia is leased to the US until 2036, nothing is likely to change before that date.
..and if the US decides it wants to keep a base in the Indian ocean for a longer time period, I'm sure they will.
The US Air Force used the base in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, as well as the Iraq War, among other uses.
As far as coin collecting is concerned, Pobjoy only mints commemorative coins and sells them worldwide, you are very unlikely to see one in B.I.O.T, as the de facto currency is the US Dollar.
If Diego García is part of the deal (i.e. considered to belong to the Chagos archipelago), then it would be possible to uphold the agreement with the US, but I'm sure that the US is more interested in dealing with a much more important ally in the long term (the UK) than with a small nation. If international law is in the way, they'll just ignore it.
As for coinage, yes, I used the term "medal-coins" above precisely because they're not real coins. If Mauritius gains sovereignty over the islands, they will probably quickly enact a law on currency, which would be the Mauritius rupee. It is not impossible that the islands would be granted a special status given their strategic importance in the Indian Ocean, and if so may either maintain the US dollar as the circulating currency &/or create a local currency at par with the US dollar.
To call anything as “circulating currency” on the Chagos Archipelago is quite the stretch as most of the islands are uninhabited. Those that were, the British forcibly exiled the islanders to Mauritius or elsewhere in the 1970s with no right to return which usually is classified as crimes against humanity. Today only a couple islands are used as military installations, the most famous one being the Diego’s Garcia base leased to the US. So I’d imagine there is no point creating a currency for transient military personnel.
i watched a bbc report last evening about some islanders returning on a temporary visit to the island to clean up their village and their local church. Mauritius organized it and planted a flag on the beach as well. The fact that happened I suppose is an indication of how far down the ladder the British have descended in global geopolitics
I didn't know there were so few people there, so of course the idea of a local currency wouldn't make sense.
However, if the islands return to Mauritius, they will have all reasons to repopulate them and thus affirm and strengthen their sovereignty over them.
I believe the Greek government does a little of the same in contributing to maintain their sovereignty over Megiste, a piece of rock with a single village, Kastellorizo, which is the westernmost piece of inhabited Greek territory (there is a small uninhabited island to the west). A good swimmer could get there from the Turkish coast.
Quote: "BCNumismatics"Have any of you seen the documentary 'Stealing a Nation'?
If you have not, then here you go;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjNfXK6QpqY .
Aidan.
Thanks much. Will watch with interest.
I see there is an Al Jazeera video on this as well that seems quite interesting. The description points out that "Authorities in Mauritius have said that the US base can remain whether the island is under the political control of the United Kingdom or not".
