Foreign experts hired to reclaim lost maritime territory

The President’s Office, on Tuesday, revealed the government has hired foreign experts to appeal the decision by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in the maritime dispute between Maldives and Mauritius.

ITLOS, on April 28^th, concluded that the conflicting Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between Mauritius and Maldives will be divided between the two using the equidistance formula as argued by Maldives in the case.

Thus, Maldives gained 47,232 square kilometers from the 95,563 square kilometers of maritime territory in dispute while Mauritius gained 45,331 square kilometers. PPM-PNC coalition, which had been the opposition back then, had accused the former administration of “selling” part of Maldivian maritime territory, claiming the whole 95,563 square kilometers to belong to the Maldives.

The current administration believes that the former administration’s policies on the matter had been contradictory to the laws and the constitution of the Maldives and without consideration to the highest national interest.

A three-member committee headed by former attorney general Mohamed Anil has been incepted by the government to review ITLOS’ decision.  

Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office on Tuesday to brief on the latest updates on cabinet decisions – Principal Secretary to the President on Public Policy Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim identified the foreign expertise hired for the appeal as a King’s Counsel from the UK and a professor of law of the sea from Malta.

“The Maltese professor will travel to the Maldives very soon. The professor’s report will be submitted to the president, the cabinet mid-this month. UK’s report will be submitted to the cabinet in February,” Nazim said.

“The final report formulated based on the reports of the experts will be submitted to the cabinet in late February,” he added.

The government, in a previous statement, said that the documents received with respect to the case so far included former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth dates August 22, 2022. The letter was disclosed by the government alongside the statement.

Following controversy over the letter, Solih had repeatedly insisted that the letter expressed Maldives’ recognition of Mauritius’ sovereign authority over Chagos archipelago, and that it bore no relation to the legal position taken by Maldives at ITLOS.