What is this island Tromelin that causes so much reaction?

Do you know this island in the Indian Ocean belonging to France and claimed by Mauritius?

Why evoke today this island apparently without interest?

For the record…

Mauritius gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.

The island had been ceded by France in 1814 to the British Crown before that.

It is precisely on the treaty of this cession that the Mauritian state claims its authority over Tromelin.

The text in French provides that “the island of France [name of Mauritius at the time] and its dependencies, namely Rodrigue and Séchelles [sic]” be ceded to Great Britain.

France considered this list of islands belonging to Mauritius to be exhaustive, but the Mauritians, who referred to the English version of the treaty, believed that only two examples were cited.

In the eyes of the small republic, Tromelin should have been in British hands before it belonged to Mauritius at independence.

An agreement was signed between France and Mauritius in 2010 to ensure “the economic, scientific and environmental co-management of Tromelin and the surrounding maritime areas.

This agreement has, for example, allowed for joint archaeological research to study the history of the islet.

France accepted the principle of co-management in 2012, then stopped the process without explanation.

Claiming sovereignty over Tromelin Island

On December 2, 2021, during a parliamentary session, Pravind Jugnauth, the current Prime Minister of Mauritius, claimed sovereignty over Tromelin Island, which was placed under French authority in 1960 and used until now for tropical meteorological purposes to monitor tropical cyclones.

Two days later, France placed Mauritius in the same “scarlet” restriction category as some African countries because of the risk of spreading the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.

Intense lobbying of French authorities has been carried out in recent days to soften Paris’ decision against Mauritius.

The Mauritian government has promised to never again raise the issue of Mauritian sovereignty over the island of Tromelin.

On December 7, 2021, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State for Tourism, French Living Abroad and Francophonie, posted on his twitter page that in view of the health data, Mauritius will move tomorrow, December 8, 2021, from the “scarlet” category to the “red” category for travel with metropolitan France.

Once again, vaccinated people can travel for any purpose.

Is this just a coincidence? This is the question that many are wondering.

Note that these restrictions have been maintained between Mauritius and Reunion Island.

Whether the passenger is vaccinated or not, a compelling reason will be required to be allowed to travel between the two islands.