Chagos Sovereignty: Hamdun Hameed Initials Diplomatic Letters on Chagos

Hamdun Hameed

MC-UPDATE 006: In a sharp escalation of the Maldives' campaign to reclaim the Chagos Archipelago, Hamdun Hameed - former MP, ex-Minister of Planning and Development, and former non-resident Ambassador to Singapore- has formally endorsed the national petition demanding the restoration of the Chagos Islands to Maldivian sovereignty. By signing the petition and initialling diplomatic letters that present a trove of historical and legal evidence, Hamdun joins the growing front calling for rectification of what many now consider one of the last unresolved colonial land grabs in the Indian Ocean.

This morning, the grassroots movement Maldivians for Chagos delivered the petition and legal documentation to the Japanese (
@JapaninMaldivesSri Lankan (
@SLinMaldives), and Australian (
@dfat) missions in Malé. These embassies are among the first to receive the files in what appears to be a calculated diplomatic blitz aimed at reframing the Chagos narrative, one that has long ignored the Maldives' original and rightful claim.

At the heart of the petition, titled "Urgent Appeal for Comprehensive Decolonization and the Reversion of the Chagos Archipelago to Maldivian Sovereign Control," are five scathing indictments of the current status quo, each dismantling the colonial scaffolding that props up Mauritius' recent claim - sanctioned by the UK - as yet another flawed post-colonial arrangement:

1. Pre-Colonial Sovereignty and the Myth of Terra Nullius: The Maldives' historical influence over the Chagos Archipelago predates the planting of any European flag in the region. The petition torpedoes the 1715 French invocation of terra nullius as a Eurocentric legal fiction designed to erase non-European sovereignty.
2. The 19th-Century Colonial Carve-Up: The infamous 1834 map by Capt. Robert Moresby is cited not as an innocent act of cartography, but as a deliberate tool of imperial engineering used to sever the Chagos Islands from the Maldivian orbit for strategic colonial gain.
3. Injustice Reinforced, Not Resolved: While the UK's transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius may appear to be a decolonial step, the petition argues that it simply replaces one colonial beneficiary with another, sidestepping the Maldives' deeper, older, and more rightful claim.
4. Colonial Silence ≠ Consent: The Maldives' diplomatic muteness during British protectorate rule (1887–1965) cannot be weaponized as retroactive approval of its territorial mutilation. The absence of protest under colonial subjugation is not a matter of legal acquiescence - it's a matter of political suffocation.
5. Sovereignty as a Human Right: This isn't merely a territorial dispute. It's a question of identity, dignity, and justice. The dispossession of Chagos undermines Maldivians' right to self-determination, disrupts their cultural heritage, and severs access to traditional marine territories that sustain lives and livelihoods.

This petition, along with three annexed documents, will be circulated to all foreign embassies and diplomatic missions in Malé over the coming days as part of a comprehensive campaign that combines civil society pressure with sharp-edged diplomacy.

"This is not a quarrel over cartography - it's about colonialism. It's about undoing centuries of dispossession and restoring what was wrongfully taken," a spokesperson for Maldivians for Chagos declared. "We salute figures like Hamdun Hameed who have the clarity and courage to stand up for historical truth and national dignity."

Annexed to the petition are the following:

• A verified List of Signatories
• Maldivian Claims to the Chagos: Historical and Legal Perspectives
• The Maldives' Perspective on the Chagos Archipelago: Sovereignty and Self-Determination

This assertive move reflects a maturing national consensus: the Maldives' voice on Chagos has been muted too long in the halls of international diplomacy. With renewed vigour, strategic clarity, and a sharp call to global conscience, the tide is now turning.