Things are a bit strained between Mauritius and Great Britain. The prime minister, Paul Bérenger, had weeks ago asked for a meeting with his British counterpart, Tony Blair, to discuss the Chagos archipelago issue. He wanted to see how Mauritius could recover its sovereignty over the Chagos and expected that discussions could be held in a cordial atmosphere and a consensus reached.

But it seems the opportunity was missed. The British prime minister has not even condescended to answer him. Now, Paul Bérenger must be even more angry after the announcement at the House of Commons of two Orders in Council, which give back to Great Britain total control over immigration into the archipelago.

The Mauritian prime minister is quite worried about the future. He convened a special meeting to see what further actions can be taken. Moreover, he is meeting the Commonwealth secretary general, Don Mc Kinnon, on 9th July in London and intends to bring up the issue at this meeting.

Meanwhile, the natives of Chagos cannot go back to the archipelago despite a British High Court verdict in 2000 that granted them this right. But an order in Council has precedence over a court judgment since it is a decision of the Queen herself.

Mauritius has always protested against the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). According to the prime minister, ?Mauritius holds sovereignty over the whole archipelago; but concretely, we have never been able to take advantage of our sovereignty because of the British policy.?

Important international organisations such as the United Nations have supported Mauritius in this fight for its sovereignty. This is why Mauritius was confident about recovering it. Moreover, legal advice obtained last December confirmed that the excision of the Chagos archipelago in 1965 was in violation of the United Nations Charter. So, the Mauritian government thought that the Chagos issue would finally have a happy ending.

Things no longer seem that easy. The fact that the Chagossians cannot go to the archipelago is not a good omen for the recovery of sovereignty. It could just be the other way round?