Weekly Island Round-Up - 05 Apr 2021
Here are 3 things happening in Mauritius this week!
1) Lockdown in Mauritius to be extended until 30th April, with some limited reopening of some facilities.
After an initial 2 week lockdown in March, Mauritius has extended its lockdown to the end of April.
2) British lawyer Philippe Sands, brings the Chagos debate to the American Press, saying Mauritius’ proposition of a 99 year lease of Diego Garcia if Chagossians are allowed to return would be a “win-win”.
Mr. Sands is a writer and law professor at University College London. He was co-counsel for the Philippines in its maritime case against China and advises Mauritius about the status of the Chagos Archipelago.
In response to Britain’s stronghold over the Chagos Archipelago, which was split from Mauritius to make way for a US military base, Mr Sans believes the solution lies in Mauritius already offering the United States a 99-year lease over Diego Garcia, providing a long-term security that is lacking under America’s current arrangement with Britain, which expires in 2036. In return, the Chagossians would be allowed to come back to parts of Chagos. A marine protection area could be established to conserve a pristine maritime environment. The flag would finally be lowered on Britain’s last colony in Africa.
It’s a win-win-win proposition. Security, human rights and the marine environment are protected. The rule of law, treaties and UNCLOS are promoted. Charges of hypocrisy and double standard are cast to the wind.
3) Personal information of victims sold from the Telegram scandal were taken from a 2019 Facebook data leak, which a hacker sold online.
Data on more than 500 million Facebook users from a 2019 leak, including email addresses and phone numbers, was posted on a hacker forum. An internet search allowed our editorial staff at Le Mauricien to discover that Facebook users who indicated Mauritius as their place of residence were also there.
Although the forum is publicly accessible and anyone can register a profile, the download links for these packages are only available to users who have purchased forum credits.
Although the data appears to have been sold privately, it was also used as the backend of a Telegram bot launched in January 2021 that allowed anyone to retrieve the phone number and account details of Facebook users for a small fee.
SOURCES
https://www.lexpress.mu/keyword/vaccins
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cdl8n2edxept/mauritius
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