The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has ruled that the Maldives should have a majority share from the disputed territory between of the maritime boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago. It ensured that the southern part region of the Maldives was not lost. ITLOS came to the decision after considering the documents, evidence and satellite images and scientific data submitted by the Maldives.
There is a 95,000sqkm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago. However, the issue of the sovereignty Chagos has not been resolved, and the territory has never been determined.
In case the two countries cannot agree on the conflicting territory, international rules state that the in will be separated by equidistance. According to this principle, the two countries differed on where to start separating. Mauritius argued that the separation would start from Blenheim Reef. However, the Maldives stated that it is not a dry land and cannot be considered as a starting point for separation.
However, based on the documents and evidence submitted by the Maldives, ITLOS decided not to accept the offer by Mauritius. ITLOS decided not to measure from the area of Blenheim reef. Therefore, with the settlement of the case against Mauritius, the Maldives received an additional 4,600sqkm of territory from the disputed territory.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sought an advisory opinion on the issue at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after years of discussions that it was under the sovereignty of Mauritius in 2017. ICJ issued its Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 in February 2019.
A resolution was submitted to the UNGA on May 22, 2019 in collaboration with Mauritius, African countries and the Non-Aligned Movement. The resolution calls for the handover of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius within six months. The 2019 resolution was voted against after Mauritius objected to the proposal of the Maldives to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) on July 26, 2010 to extend its continental shelf.