‘Triangle of power’ : Madagascar wants control over the Scattered Islands. France says no

‘Triangle of power’ : Madagascar wants control over the Scattered Islands. France says no

France’s pledge to confront its colonial legacy is being tested in Madagascar, where historic grievances are clashing with modern geopolitics over the Scattered Islands – tiny, uninhabited territories that carry vast strategic and symbolic weight in the Indian Ocean.

The Madagascar-France commission will meet on 30 June for the first time since 2019 to discuss the situation of the Eparses islands. Both countries have been fighting their sovereignty since the 1970s.

France and Madagascar wrangle over sovereignty of Scattered Islands

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Madagascar for a regional summit has brought fresh attention to a long-running dispute over the Îles Éparses – a group of tiny islands in the Mozambique Channel claimed by both France and Madagascar. Despite years of talks, the issue remains unresolved – part of the unfinished business of decolonisation.

For decades, the two countries have disputed the sovereignty of this microscopic and uninhabited territory of the Indian Ocean, located off Madagascar and close to huge gas fields.

The discussions between France and Madagascar on the Éparses islands have just resumed after several years of silence, with the announced reactivation of the Joint Commission during a meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Andry Rajoelina. This resumption, set for a meeting in Paris on 30 June, is the first since 2019, after a long postponement often officially justified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, this gap may be more concealing a real disinter…

While Emmanuel Macron is visiting Madagascar to strengthen the links between France and his former colony off Mozambique, claims of sovereignty over the scattered islands in the Indian Ocean are a source of discord.