Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV

Your Holiness,

With reverence for your office and with the humility of cousins in the house and faith of Abraham, we write to you regarding your recent words on the United Kingdom’s “handover” of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. You spoke of a “grave injustice repaired.” Respectfully, we must say: the injustice remains. What has taken place is not decolonisation but recolonisation.

“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15)

The first theft was by the French. In the 18th century, France falsely declared the Chagos Archipelago terra nullius, land without owners, though it had long belonged to the Maldives. Then, in 1814, under the Treaty of Paris, France ceded the Chagos Islands to Britain as part of the war reparations. Britain knowingly received what was never France’s to give.

Your own Scriptures warn against such acts: “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15), and again, “Do not move your neighbour’s boundary stone” (Deuteronomy 19:14). Both commandments were broken in this chain of colonial handovers.

The Erased Maldives

Arab navigator Ahmad ibn Mājid mapped the Bahr al-Mulūk, the “Sea of the Kings,” also known as the Sea of the Maldives, which stretches south to the Chagos Banks (Tibbetts, 1971, pp. 291–293).

British geographer A. Gray wrote in 1889: “The Chagos group may be considered as the southernmost portion of the Maldive Archipelago” (Scottish Geographical Magazine, p. 450).

Colonial administrator H.C.P. Bell wrote in 1940: “The Sovereignty of the Sultans of Malé extended … including the Chagos islands” (p. 5).

Yet today, the Maldives is erased from the narrative. Britain invokes “security,” Mauritius claims “Sovereignty,” the BBC repeats this script, and even the Vatican applauds, while the rightful sovereign is silenced.

Sin of Omission

As the Gospel of Matthew records: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Likewise, what profit is there in treaties, applause, or diplomacy if truth itself is forfeited?

The United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960, UNGA Res. 1514) affirms:

“Any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter.“

That disruption was done to the Maldives, not Mauritius. The wound remains open, though the world pretends it has healed.

A Prayer for Justice

As Muslims, we believe in all the prophets and revelations, and we remind our cousins in the house and faith of Abraham of what your Scriptures uphold:

In the Book of Genesis: “So God created mankind in his own image…” (Genesis 1:27). Thus, every people, great or small, carries divine dignity.
In Deuteronomy: “The Lord did not choose you because you were numerous… for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). Thus, even the smallest nation is beloved of God.
In the Psalms: “Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples” (Psalm 117:1–2). Thus, every nation, however remote, has its place in His design.

By these testimonies, would you not affirm: even the smallest nation reflects the image of God, and even the most remote atoll remains under His gaze?

Your Holiness, justice cannot be built upon stolen ground. To bless a bargain between thieves is not restitution but sanctification of fraud. True justice is to restore what was taken and to acknowledge the truth of history.

With respect, but with unyielding conviction,

Maldivians for Chagos
Research, Faith & Outreach Desk
admin@maldivians4chagos.com
http://www.maldivians4chagos.com

References

Exodus 20:15 – “You shall not steal.”
Deuteronomy 19:14 – “Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone.”
Matthew 16:26 – “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
Genesis 1:27 – “So God created mankind in his own image…”
Deuteronomy 7:7–8 – “The Lord did not choose you because you were numerous… for you were the fewest of all peoples.”
Psalm 117:1–2 – “Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples…”
Treaty of Paris (1814) – France cedes Chagos to Britain.
Gray, A. (1889). The Maldives and Laccadives. Scottish Geographical Magazine, 5(9), 449–461. JSTOR
Bell, H. C. P. (1940). The Maldive Islands: Monograph on the History, Archaeology, and Epigraphy. Colombo: Ceylon Government Press.
Tibbetts, G. R. (1971). Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean Before the Coming of the Portuguese. London: Royal Asiatic Society.
United Nations. (1960). Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (UNGA Res. 1514). UN Digital Library