Phosphate Mining and the Relocation of the Banabans to Northern Fiji In

Home , Banaba, History of Kiribati, Rabi Island, Vanua Levu

Journal de la Société des Océanistes 138-139 | 2014

Les mises en récit de la mine dans le Pacifique

Phosphate mining and the relocation of the Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945: Lessons for climate change-forced displacement Extraction du phosphate et déplacement des Banabans au nord de Fidji en 1945 : enseignements pour les déplacements dus aux changements climatiques

Julia B. Edwards

Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/jso/7100 DOI: 10.4000/jso.7100 ISSN: 1760-7256

Publisher Société des océanistes

Printed version Date of publication: 15 December 2014 Number of pages: 121-136 ISBN: 978-2-85430-118-2 ISSN: 0300-953x

Electronic reference Julia B. Edwards, « Phosphate mining and the relocation of the Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945: Lessons for climate change-forced displacement », Journal de la Société des Océanistes [Online], 138-139 | 2014, Online since 15 December 2017, connection on 30 April 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/jso/7100 ; DOI : 10.4000/jso.7100

Julia B. EdwARdS*

ABSTRACT RÉSUMÉ At the end of the XIXth Century, Banaba was an unknown, À la in du XIXe siècle, l’île du Paciique central Banaba était and then ‘unclaimed’, island in the central Paciic; howe- encore inconnue et « non revendiquée ». Tout allait changer ver, all was soon to change for its 450 residents. In 1900, pour les 450 habitants quand en1900, on découvrit qu’une a rock propping open a Sydney-oice door of the Paciic pierre déposée au bureau de Sydney de la Compagnie des Islands Phosphate Company was found to consist almost phosphates du Paciique insulaire était quasi exclusivement entirely of high-grade phosphate. It was soon traced back composée de phosphate de haute qualité. Son origine iden- to the island; mining activity commenced shortly after tiiée, l’extraction commença et la croissance de l’activité fut and the operation quickly grew. he tiny island was rapide. La petite île se transforma en un site majeur d’exploi- transformed into a major phosphate-mining settlement. tation du phosphate avec pour conséquence rapide de rendre With continued mineral extraction it became apparent Banaba inhabitable. Les autorités coloniales élaborèrent that Banaba would, in time, become uninhabitable and un plan pour reloger la communauté insulaire. Cet article plans were devised by colonial authorities to relocate the analyse les décisions, les événements et les processus qui ont island community to an alternative home. his article conduit à la réinstallation des habitants de Banaba sur l’île examines the decisions, events and processes that led to de Rabi, aux Fidji, en 1945. Les correspondances et docu- the relocation of the Banabans to Rabi Island, Fiji in ments coloniaux originaux sont examinés et les membres clés 1945. Original colonial documents and correspondence de la communauté des anciens de Banaba, basés à Suva et are examined and key members of the elderly Banaban Rabi, consultés. Un parallèle est établi avec les réinstalla- community, based in Suva and Rabi, consulted. Parallels tions forcées dues au changement climatique actuel et des with contemporary relocations, associated with climate enseignements sont tirés qui pourront aider à organiser les change, are given and learnings presented that will aid déplacements de communautés liés au changement clima- future climate-induced community relocations. Lessons tique. Parmi eux, on note la nécessité d’une planiication to take forward are the need for long-term, post-reloca- post-réinstallation sur le long terme, incluant la création de tion planning, including the creation of livelihoods, and modes et moyens de subsistance et un appui continu fourni on-going support by external agencies for those displaced. par les agences extérieures aux groupes déplacés. Keywords: resettlement, colonisation, mining, iden- Keywords: déplacements, colonisation, mines, tity, climate change identité, changements climatiques

Much recent attention has been given to likely within the region, forced relocation is not a new future climate-induced population displacements phenomenon (Lieber, 1977). In the immediate in Oceania (ejf, 2009; Mimura et al., 2007), yet aftermath of world war Two (wwii), at the time

* Researcher, Climate change and resettlement, Paciic Conference of Churches, Suva, Fiji, [email protected] Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 138-139, année 2014 122 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS when millions of Europeans were on the move, Today there is a realisation that very careful one tiny island community in the central Paci- planning is required to minimize the trauma of ic was also, reluctantly, undertaking a long-dis- the upheaval for the displaced community. Past tance journey to a new island home. development-induced relocations have been At the end of 1945, 1,003 Banabans and Gil- criticised for their apparent lack of concern for bertese from Banaba Island, formerly Ocean the social dynamics of the displaced communi- Island, were relocated to Fiji. Since 1900 the ty (Cernea, 1997). In many cases, people were islanders’ home had been gradually degraded by an afterthought in such schemes. Outwardly, the extensive phosphate mining1. with deep, high- handling of the Banabans by colonial authorities quality deposits still remaining in Banaba, and could receive a similar judgment. Beyond forced with postconlict peace returning to the region, resettlement and in broader terms of mobility and the British Phosphate Commissioners (bpc) community building in the Paciic context, Pacif- were keen to recommence their mining activi- ic islanders have left the «familiar» and migrated ties in Banaba. As a result, the Banabans were to the «unknown», where they have been success- prevented from returning to their island home. ful in creating «moral communities» (Modell, Compared with the many hundreds of thou- 2002). his heritage of movement, nevertheless, sands of Paciic islanders who face potential enables Paciic islanders to be still rooted in the relocate in the future owing to climate change ancestral homeland through oral traditions, ge- (Stern, 2006, Mimura et al., 2007), the histo- nealogy and cultural performance (Hau’Ofa, ric relocation of the Banabans may be small in 1994). he work here assesses both the extent to scale; however, valuable lessons can be learned which the needs of the Banaban people were tak- from the relocation approach. en into consideration and the success of the com- Rarely in the past has an entire island commu- munity in retaining their traditions and society nity been forcibly displaced, the process so well in the island of Rabi, their new home. documented in the historical archives, and the he remainder of the paper is structured as narrative of the relocation so readily told by the follows. In the next section, the approach and community who experienced the resettlement. method is outlined, which includes a short ge- he embedment of a narrative of mining exploi- ography of Banaba Island. hen the background tation, and potentially of climate, is important to the discovery of phosphate in Banaba is given, in synthesizing the relocation process, but it also followed by a more detailed presentation of the needs to be seen as part of a broader history of diferent stages in the relocation process. mobility in the Paciic-island context (Modell, he assessment of the relocation approach in- 2002). People within the Paciic have migrated cludes modern-day observations of the Banabans’ through choice, circumstance or opportunity, situation. In the comparison section, parallels with and the migration narratives have enriched Pa- current climate change-forced relocations are stat- ciic traditions and cultures. Mobility is in the ed and recommendations presented that will aid blood of Paciic islanders (Hau’Ofa, 1994). future climate-induced community relocations. In the last section overall conclusions are drawn.

Issue and hypothesis: from an actual case of forced relocation to an hypothetical/ Approach and method prospective comparison A historical extended case study his article examines the relocation of the Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945 in terms of his paper examines the relocation of the the decisions and processes made by the colonial Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945. It is a case- authorities, and the experiences of the Banaban study approach that uses archive records and oth- community. er documentation to assess the level of planning, Much of the focus of the work is on the his- negotiations and co-operation between colonial torical process of resettlement, but a current-day authorities responsible for the relocation. Much perspective is also given in observations related of the focus of the work is on the historical pro- to community reconstruction. Any relocation is cess of resettlement, though the research detailed an extremely complex process; afected commu- here also incorporates observations and indings nities are exposed to risks of severe economic, from a recent study-team visit to Rabi Island in social and environmental hardship, and in the April 2011. during the ield visit, interviews case of mining-induced displacement especially, with key representatives of the community were environmental degradation may be particularly undertaken, enabling a current-day perspective acute (Robinson, 2003). to be given to the assessment.

1. Phosphate was much prized as an agricultural fertiliser during the irst half of the xxth Century. PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 123

on-going work of the Pacif- ic Conference of Churches in the accompaniment of current-day Paciic islanders facing displacement because of climate change.

A geography of Banaba Island

Banaba, a small, raised island, is the emerging tip of a submarine mountain (the name «Banaba» means island of rock or «stony»). his barren outcrop is located just south of the equa- tor in the central Paciic, and is very remote. nauru, its nearest neighbour, is almost 200km to the west, and the administrative centre of Tarawa, the capital of Kirabati (formerly the Figure 1. – he location of Banaba and Rabi islands Gilbert and Ellice Islands Group) 400km away to the east (igure 1). he work examines the extent to which the needs of the Banaban people were considered in the relocation, and also outlines lessons from the From phosphate discovery to the relocation that may be applied to future climate resettlement of the Banabans change-induced resettlements. he author is indebted to the late, Mrs. Makin Corrie, a notable elder of the Banaban commu- discovery of phosphate nity in Suva, who, over a series of meetings, re- called her part in the relocation process. Her oral Arthur Ellis, a young geologist at the Paciic narrative proved invaluable in enriching the do- Islands Phosphate Company in Sydney, traced cumented history of the Banabans. All the oral a «doorstop» rock back to Banaba, a then «un- histories and personal relections of the selected claimed» landmass in the central Paciic (Sil- Banaban interlocutors are analyzed, edited, and verman, 1977). At that time about 450 people presented here, in conjunction with the archive lived in the island (Sigrah and King, 2006). Ellis record. On occasion, the oral history conirms arrived in Banaba in May 1900, and immedi- the historical data; however, often, the view- ately found high-grade phosphate among the point, values and knowledge of an interviewee foreshore rocks. Recalling Banaban oral histo- are treated as unique though not necessarily fac- ry, Corrie said that Ellis quickly instructed the tual perspectives of the past. with the reliability locals to collect all the rocks they could ind, of the life-history technique highly questionable and then he purchased each heap at 4 shillings (Cary, 1999), the Banaban narrative experiences a time, before loading them onto his boat, the are included here to ofer the reader only a con- «Archer» (Corrie, interview, 2nd February 2011, struction of the cultural modeling of the reloca- Suva, Fiji). tion reality. he «Archer» returned again to Banaba just he study team, consisting of staf from the cli- three weeks later on the return leg of her voyage mate-change unit of the Paciic Conference of (Shennan and Corrie Tekenimatang, 2005). Churches, also acknowledge the invitation to at- In 1901, to ensure continued exclusive access, tend a meeting of the elders at Banaban House, the British government annexed the island, and Suva in March 2011, and are grateful to Talatala raised the British lag (Sigrah and King, 2001). Qase Kabong, divisional Superintendent of the Banaba Island became part of the British Gilbert Methodist Church in Rabi, who smoothed the and Ellice Island Group. Mining commenced later Rabi Island visit and enabled the team mem- that year under a more formal, but equally unfair bers to meet with a wide cross-section of the arrangement, of 999 years mining rights for £50 Banaban community during their stay. he re- per annum (Macdonald, 2001). he operation search outlined in this article forms part of the grew quickly, and in 1908 bpc was formed. 124 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS

Over the years Banaba was gradually trans- 1945). wakaya was rejected3 and another loca- formed from an island of about ive hundred tion sought. inhabitants into a major phosphate-mining set- At that time, the Lever Brothers’ Paciic Plan- tlement of about three thousand people (Teaiwa, tations Proprietary Limited (pppl) was selling 2005). his evolution brought with it apparent Rabi Island in northern Fiji for £25,000 (Vask- beneits to the local community. he Banabans ess, 1942). Only a handful of people were al- became accustomed to the trappings of modern ready living in the island: an old man from the life, with its latest equipment, luxuries and ser- Solomon Islands, who had been there for many vices. Conversely, they also started to lose some years, and a few copra plantation workers (Be- of the structuring components of their social or- naia 1991). he British authorities, therefore, ganisation and identity: four villages replaced the thinking it an appropriate alternative, suggest- original dispersed network of hamlets; the island ed the island to the Banabans. he community chiefs lost their power as the native government wanted representatives to visit Rabi to assess its ruled the island; and the younger generation re- suitability for themselves. However, before the garded land only as a source of income, to be selected members could leave for Fiji, Japanese sold to the bpc, rather than of cultural impor- troops invaded Banaba, and shipping communi- tance (Maude and Maude, 1932). And with the cations with the rest of the colony ceased. employment of migrant labourers from the Gil- he British authorities were unperturbed in bert and Ellice Islands group2 (Connell, 2004) their quest. In March 1942, determined not to and other indentured labourers, initially from lose out on the buying opportunity – the op- Japan, and then post-1920, workers from China tion to purchase Rabi was for six months only (Shlomowitz and Munro,1992), the Banabans – and fearing that recent price rises in copra had become a minority group in their homeland might make Lever Brothers reconsider their sale, (Silverman, 1977). the authorities took the opportunity to pur- he bpc continued to operate a monopoly in chase Rabi Island4 for the Banaban people by Banaba for the next 30 years, until mining oper- inancing the acquisition with funds from the ations were brought to a halt by the invasion of Banabans’ own phosphate royalties (Vaskess, Japanese forces in 1942 (Silverman, 1977). 1944). As the secretary to the High Commission earlier explained: he decision to relocate the Banabans to Rabi Island «he object of the purchase is to provide an island for the settlement of the natives of Ocean Island Parallels can be drawn between the mining against the time when the phosphate deposits in that history of Banaban and another Paciic island, island will have been marked out and the island will, the nation of nauru. during the xxth Century, in consequence, have become largely uninhabitable.» phosphate mining brought the people of nauru (Vaskess, 1942) considerable wealth, yet caused the destruction of 80% of the island (Gowdy and Mcdaniel, he British authorities had acquired Rabi Island 1999; Connell, 2006). despite the physical dev- without contributing inancially to its purchase astation of nauru on a scale similar to that of and also ensured that Banaba Island would be un- Banaba, the people of nauru continued to live inhabited when mining recommenced post wwii. in their home island. Meanwhile, the islanders sufered greatly un- Banaban emigration, however, had been a con- der the Japanese occupation of Banaba. Life was sideration of the governing oicials long before the harsh and often brutal. here were severe food outbreak of wwii (Silverman, 1962). he Banabans shortages, and the community would have prob- always forcefully rejected such suggestions. ably starved to death had they remained in the with continued mining activities, it was obvi- island (Vaskess, 1945). Instead the Japanese de- ous that Banaba would soon become uninhabit- cided to disperse most of the community to three able, and the Banabans reluctantly accepted an separate internment camps in nauru, Tarawa alternative home needed to be found. In 1940, and Kosrae (Holland, 1948; Benaia, 1991). prior to the outbreak of wwii, they speciical- A third of the population died during the ly requested the unpopulated Fijian island of three-year occupation, some from starvation, wakaya, located close to the main, administra- others were poisoned, shot, be-headed or died tive island of Viti Levu. An initial survey of the from electrocution. People were killed for rel- island, how ever, revealed insuicient cultivatable atively minor ofences (Maude and Maude, land and inadequate water supplies (Vaskess, 1994). heir war-time experiences probably left

2. with the commencement of mining, labourers from Tuvalu were so keen to work on Banaba that the British authorities has to restrict migrant numbers to preserve population numbers in their homeland (Connell, 2004). 3. wakaya is now a top-class resort, and one of the most exclusive island destinations in Fiji. 4. he freehold purchase of Rabi included the whole island, except a government reserve of 50 acres ( Vaskess, 1942). PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 125

Men women Children Total Banabans 185 200 318 703 Gilbertese 152 97 51 300 Total 337 297 369 1003

Table 1. – Proile of those relocated to Rabi Island in 1945 by gender, age and ethnicity (Source: Silverman, 1971) the Banabans questioning themselves, as well as he authorities were anticipating 700 arrivals others around them (Colson, 2003). in Rabi, and provisions were calculated accord- At the end of the conlict only «able» Banabans ingly. he awaiting supplies proved inadequate, had survived and they were weakened from their however, as: experience, and certainly in no shape to take up the ight against the bpc (Macdonald, 2001). «about 700 people were expected, but latest advices hey were gathered by the British government mentioned 900 and they landed 1,003.» (Verrier, in Tarawa and told that they could not return 1946) to Banaba (Kempf, 2003). he authorities an- nounced, untruthfully, that their island home At 6.30pm on 15th december 1945, the had sufered during the war (Secretary for Fiji 1,003 passengers disembarked the «Triona», a Afairs, 1945). he real reason for the relocation bpc-company ship (Kennedy, 1945b). Two eth- was stated in earlier correspondence: nic groups, the Banabans and the Gilbertese, were represented; the Gilbertese were linked to «Many years ago it was realized within a compa- the community either through marriage to indi- ratively short time the phosphate deposits in Ocean vidual Banabans, or having previously developed Island would be worked out, and, as all that would close friendships with particular Banaban fami- then be left of the island would be a forest of coral pin- lies (Benaia, 1991). nacles, the Banaban (the natives of the island) would Children made up almost half the Banaban have to leave and ind a home elsewhere. when this contingency, illustrating just how much the was suggested to them, however, they latly refused adult Banaban population had sufered during to consider it and for some 25 years they stubbornly resisted the idea.» (Vaskess, 1944) the war (table 1). On arrival the Banabans found Rabi Island to A year later, Vaskess (1945) made it clear that be very underdeveloped, especially when com- there was no alternative location for the Banabans pared with the structure of equipment and ser- in the Gilbert and Ellice Island Group. he as- vices in Banaba (Silverman, 1971). According to sembled survivors had no choice other than to Hedstrom, the roads in Rabi were merely access move the 3,200km to northern Fiji. Having al- tracks to copra plantations, there was no elec- ready sufered greatly during the preceding years, tricity and just a few substantial buildings exist- ed (Hedstrom, Interview, Principal, Rabi High the Banabans agreed to go to Rabi – an island th that they had never seen – on a trial basis (Silver- School, Rabi Island, 14 April 2011). when man, 1962). the Banabans disembarked, Corrie recounted that only tents, household supplies (mosquito nets, blankets and utensils) and basic food ra- he resettlement action plan and the arrival of tions were waiting for them (Corrie, interview, the Banabans 2nd February 2011, Suva, Fiji), a recollection that tallies well with the resettlement action plan Two months prior to the arrival of the Banabans equipment roster (Kennedy, 1945a). in Rabi, a preliminary resettlement plan was cir- culated by the administrative oicer, outlining various socio-economic aspects of the relocation Initial stage of resettlement (Kennedy, 1945a). Considerations included the living conditions, housing, camp equipment, he initial camp of tarpaulin tents was on a cooking, medical care, administration and or- lat, open ield at nuku, Tabwewa; this location ganisation and status of the Banabans in Rabi was to be the community’s temporary home for and their relation and status within the wider Fiji the irst few months, as they had been requested group. For the irst six months, the movement of by the authorities to remain together at one lo- the Banabans was to be restricted to Rabi only; cation for security purposes. Food supplies at the subsequently, they would be «as free as any oth- camp were distributed once a week rationed on er Fijian citizen to roam from island to island» an individual basis. Children received half the (Cooper, undated). adult allowance (Benaia, 1991). 126 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS

he British authorities on arrival made it clear vices, 1979). All was not smooth, however. he that at the end of the two years, the Banabans Banabans had swapped the status of landhold- would be free to decide either to make Rabi their ers, workers and small-scale market producers in permanent home or to return to Banaba if, as a Banaba for copra cutters and gardeners in Rabi community, they so wished (windrum, 1946). (Silverman, 1971). A couple of years into their resettlement, the resident governmental adviser Transition stage of resettlement called for police protection. In the 1960s the bitterness escalated, and the Banabans elected to he Banaban Settlement Act, passed by the dismiss their adviser (Silverman, 1977). It was Fiji colonial government at the end of 1945, at this time that the Banabans intensiied their set up the new administrative structure for the claims for inancial compensation and wished to Banabans in Rabi (Hindmarsh, 2002), and, after further highlight their plight within the interna- agreement at a meeting of heads of families (Sil- tional community. verman, 1971), an island council was formed as the instrument of local government. It was they Compensation claim who made the key decision to disperse the community from their temporary campsite to the he arrival of the phosphate company had in- four villages in the island six months after they troduced the link between land and money to the had irst arrived (Silverman, 1977). Banabans (Silverman, 1971), and the communi- A year into the resettlement, the Banabans ty had been in receipt of monies for phosphate renamed the four Rabi villages after their extraction for many years. hey thought that the post-phosphate-discovery villages in Banaba: monies in the Phosphate Provident Fund were Tabwewa, Uma5, Tabiang and Buakonikai. his theirs, for their own use; the authorities thought transfer of Banaban names helped the Banabans otherwise. Rabi Island was purchased with the to make a link between their old home and their monies from the Fund, and the remaining bal- new island (Kempf, 2003). It also reinforced ance was for: their never-abandoned claim to Banaba Island, by stamping key Banaban landmarks into the « […] such work and amenities as the sub-division colonial Fijian landscape – «a politics of spatial of lands, lay-out of villages, and construction of public utilities such as water supplies, village meeting articuation» (Kempf and Hermann, 2005: 371). halls, cooperative store building, wharf, boats, boat- In Rabi, the resettlers were encouraged to move sheds, etc., etc., which may be regarded as part of to the village in Rabi that was their respective vil- the settling-in obligations of the Provident Fund.» lage in Banaba. Many people, Corrie said, wished (Vaskess, 1944) to stay in the original settlement of Tabwewa, where they had irst been located on their arrival with the post-war resumption of mining oper- (Corrie, interview, 28th February 2011, Suva, Fiji). ations, the newly-relocated community contin- In 1946, during what many Banabans believed ued to receive royalty payments in the form of was their temporary two-year stay in Rabi, Cor- bonuses and annuities (Silverman, 1977). he rie said that representatives of the community Banabans still felt aggrieved. hey were frustrat- returned to Banaba, to assess, as they thought, ed with constant disputes over land leases on the rebuilding process (Corrie, interview, 2nd Banaba, and the inadequacy of monies received February 2011, Suva, Fiji). he real purpose for from the bpc (King and Sigrah, 2004). In the the return of the 149 landowners was for them to 1960s, disheartened, yet inspired by the political register their land boundaries in Banaba in readi- independence, control of phosphate and wealth ness for a pre-mining land survey (Anon, 1946). of neighbouring nauru (Macdonald, 2001), the he group returned to their homeland to ind resentment towards the British authorities came that all buildings had been razed to the ground, to a head when, in 1965, the community started no homes remained, and their lands had been legal procedures for compensation in the British cleared in readiness for continued mining activi- courts (Sigrah and King, 2001). he 221-day ties. nothing was recognisable, and Corrie noted case was the longest in British legal history (Mac- that it was then that the Banabans realised that donald, 2001; King and Sigrah, 2004), and the it was not the Japanese who had destroyed their inal ruling found the British government guilty home island, it was the undertakings of the bpc of moral negligence, but, in the strict legal sense, (Corrie, interview, 2nd February 2011, Suva, Fiji). not liable for the injustices committed in their Mining recommenced in 1947, the year that name (Binder, 1977). the Banaban community elected, in a secret bal- A year later, after public and political pressure, lot, to remain in Rabi (British Information Ser- the British government ofered to set up a trust

5. According to Corrie (interview, 2nd February 2011, Suva, Fiji), Uma was named after the Banaban reef, Ooma, where the irst phosphate-laden shipwreck occurred. PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 127

Figure 2. – Sailosi Ramatu, Headman of Vunidogoloa village, Vanua Levu, Fiji, examining erosion to the village (13th March, 2012, picture Julia Edwards) fund to produce a pension for the Banaban From mining narrative to climate-change community (Sigrah and King, 2001). In May narrative: a tentative/prospective comparison 1977, the secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth afairs, on behalf of the bpc partner his section of the paper compares the reloca- governments, ofered the Banabans an ex-gratia tion of the Banaban with the contemporary issue payment of Australian $10 million (Macdon- of climate change-forced displacement (ccfd). ald, 2001) – capital taken from the revenues of First, development-related relocations are briely bpc – on the condition they dropped all further discussed, before climate change-related reloca- legal action (King and Sigrah, 2004). Four years tion is examined in terms of deinitions, drivers, later, the Banaban inally accepted the Australian adaptation strategies and case studies. Finally, a $10 million package, plus interest. comparison of the relocation of the Banabans with ccfd will be made. he relocation of an entire island community «On 13 April 1981, the Rabi council of leaders sig- for economic gain is rare. Many past forced re- ned appropriate undertakings bringing these matters locations of communities have been the result to an end. At the same time the British, Australian of development projects, such as the construc- and new Zealand governments made available, the an ex-gratia basis, 10 million Australian dollars and a tion of dams and irrigation schemes (Cernea, sum of a little over 4½ million Australian dollars in 1999; Fujikura et al., 2009), and outcomes have lieu of interest thereon for the beneit of the Banaban been mixed. Insuicient planning, preparation community as a whole.» (HC deb, 1981) and implementation result in more failures than successes (Oliver-Smith and de Sherbinin, 2011); experiences from the past suggest that despite the size of the award, which was inad- climate-induced displacements risk exposing the equate compared with the amount given to their people afected to severe economic, social and phosphate neighbours in nauru, the Banabans environmental hardship (Cernea, 1997); com- were only allowed access to the interest from the munities will be placed in a new context of vul- compensation payment (Hindmarsh, 2002). nerability and risks (Birk, 2012). 128 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS deinitions, drivers, adaptation strategies and ly climate-driven (Vidal, 2005; Morton, 2009). case studies Such uncritical promotion of a direct causal link between climate change and displacement is mis- Climate change is expected to increase the inci- placed, and potentially, alarmist as such cases are dence of community relocations signiicantly in scientiically unproven. Accompanying technical the future, and much attention has been given assessments of individual locales are seldom per- to the recent emergence of the issue among pol- formed, and caution needs to be used when dis- icy-makers, academia and the media (Garnaut, cussing the nature of relocation causality - reloca- 2009; McAdam, 2012; Park, 2011; warner et tion is a highly complex issue (Campbell, 2010) al., 2013). as indeed is the environment (Lonergan, 2012). Isolating the efects of climate change from other «Relocation of communities will become one of the drivers of migration and environmental change few practical options (if not the only one) for adap- is diicult (dun and Gemenne, 2008; Care et tation to climate change by communities and/or vil- al., 2009). Often climate change may merely ex- lages.» (Solomon Islands Government, 2008: 86) acerbate an already perilous economic or social situation (Renaud et al., 2011), and removing Estimates of the number of people to be af- environmental processes from the social, eco- fected vary (Lonergan, 2012); mass displace- nomic, political and institutional structures will ment of communities, however, is likely to result prove problematic - the environment is a «con- from the combination of sudden-onset, extreme textual factor» (Lonergan, 2012). Even when cli- weather events and slow-onset environmental mate-change causality is conirmed, climate-in- change that will render locations uninhabitable duced migration must not be viewed in isolation (Bronen, 2014). from other forms of displacement, rather it needs «Sinking» small-island states constitute a par- to be considered in the context of an existing mi- ticular challenge (Kälin, 2012). In the future gration system (Hugo, 2010). peoples of low-lying nations, such as Kiribti, Tu- Environmental degradation is a contributory valu, and the Marshall Islands, may be rendered factor in the current «climate-related» reloca- stateless, if present sea-level rise forecasts prove tions used for comparative purposes in this pa- correct, and their island nations become totally per (summarized below), but the environment submerged under rising seas (Stern, 2006). To may not necessarily be the primary cause of the date, international law has failed to adequate- relocation. he implications for the community ly address this international dimension (Jarvis, are the same, however – people have to move 2010; McAdam, 2011). because their settlement is no longer sustainable: Indeed, there is no accepted deinition of a Tegue Island, northern Vanuatu: Coastal com- person who moves because of climate change. munity in high volcanic island, relocating be- Renaud et al (2007) identiies three categories cause of sea-level rise, looding and accelerated of people: «environmental refugees»; «environ- coastal erosion (nakalevu and Phillips undated; mentally-forced migrants» and «environmen- unep, 2005). he area is also seismically and vol- tally-motivated migrants», based on whether or canically-active, and prone to earthquakes and not a «decision» to move is made. Ferris (2012) tsunamis (warrick, 2011); alternatively ofers a categorization of people he Carteret Islands, Papua new Guinea: Low- based on the diferent environmental circum- lying atoll community, relocating inter-island stances behind the relocation: sudden onset nat- because of coastal inundation and loss of land ural disasters, intensiied by the efects of climate (Boege, 2011; Bronen, 2014; Edwards, 2013b). change; slow onset efects of climate change, cre- Efects in part may also be linked to geological ating unviable livelihoods; and, the destruction instabilities (Barnett and Campbell, 2010; weir of part or all of a country from the efects of cli- and Virani, 2011); mate change. Vunidogoloa village, Vanua Levu, Fiji: Coastal Planned relocation is an adaptation strate- community, relocating to higher ground because gy already being implemented in some states, of coastal inundation (wilson, 2014). Villages and movements to date have mainly taken the say conditions are exacerbated by the juxtapo- form of in-country resettlements (Mimura et sition of the village between natewa Bay and a al., 2007). he Fiji government, for instance, local (unnamed) river. has recognized a national need and prepared narikoso village, Ono Island, Kadavu, Fiji: planned-relocation guidelines to systemize the Coastal community, relocating to higher ground relocation process within the nation (Fiji Gov- because of coastal inundation (Fiji government, ernment, 2014; wilson, 2014). 2014). Villages say conditions are exacerbated here is still insuicient understanding of the by historical decision to block a sea channel efects of climate changes on relocation, however. between an islet and the village site. Media and environmental groups claim the hand- Parallels between the relocation of the Bana- ful of current community relocations are entire- bans and climate change-forced displacement PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 129 ccfd are shown in Table 2. he Banaban case is families and cultural exchange (Hau’Ofa, 1994; well documented and learning opportunities are Campbell et al., 2007). he Banabans are in the presented from the Banabans’ experiences that unenviable position of being an entire island may aid future ccfd in the Paciic and elsewhere. population that has been forcibly relocated from Like the Banaban relocation, the efects of cli- their island home in modern times by outside mate change can be both narrative and material agents. Low-lying islands are similarly threatened (Farbotko and Lazrus, 2012), and current-day – by submergence from rising sea levels (Mimura climate-related relocations will be drawn upon et al., 2007) – and island communities across the in the discussion. region face uncertain futures in locations away from their current homes (Stern, 2006). Just as Populations afected and nature of the displacement the Banabans were presented with no alternative to relocation, climate change-displaced commu- Island communities have relocated for many nities will have little choice, ultimately, other reasons in the past: trade, marriage, warfare, than to leave their homes on a permanent basis.

Table 2. – Comparison between the relocation of the Banabans and climate-change forced displacement (ccfd) (Source: Author)

Banaba Island Low-lying coastal areas and islands Entire island populations and Population afected Entire island population communities occupying low-lying coastal areas Likely to be permanent. Mostly internal nature of Permanent and international (within national borders) or may be displacement international. Extraction of phosphate from Sea-level rise from human-induced direct cause of mining activity by foreign private- climate change, leading to salination of relocation sector company, leading to extreme ground-water lens, reduced agricultural degradation and loss of land. productivity and loss of land. Indirect cause of Economic development by Economic development by industrial relocation industrial nations nations Low-lying coral atoll (usually <5m Geography Raised island (300m above sea-level at highest point); low-lying coastal at highest point) communities in high volcanic islands. Slow-onset event (phosphate Slow on-set event (sea-level rise). Long- Time frame extraction) lead time Colonial authorities prepared relocation plan. no community Authorities will need to be proactive Pre-relocation involvement, and Rabi Island and prepare relocation plans. planning purchased without any visit by Community need to be consulted and community representatives to assess actively participant in the formation of its suitability any plan and in site selection. Resettlement costs initially self-funded from phosphate- Resettlement costs initially self-funded mining royalties. hirty years or from local / national government. Funding later, compensation from British Ability to seek compensation from government following legal action industrial nations still to be determined by the community Alternative Paciic island, with no Unlikely to ind an alternative ‘vacant’ Resettlement location resident, host community Paciic island location Loss of independence (in worst-case Loss of nationality Loss of independence (Banaba scenario, land territory for some nations Island subsumed under Kiribati) may be totally submerged) Population unable to visit ‘homeland’ Loss of homeland Population able to visit ‘homeland’ in worse-case scenario. Submergence of of Banaba Island ancestral land Post-relocation no long-term support for livelihood need for on-going support for assistance reconstruction livelihood reconstruction 130 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS

Most ccfd relocations will occur within countries, and cross-border relocations will not be the norm (Mimura et al., 2007). A deterrent to any relocation, however, is a lack of land availability.

«Relocation is problematic when they [communities] do not own land resources on nearby islands thus land tenure and land management systems prohibit any discussion let alone relocate to nearby islands.» (Solomon Islands, 2008: 86)

during the colonial era, the relocation of the Banabans from Banaba Island to Rabi Island involved the internal movement of a population from one part of a British-ruled colony Figure 3. – Stump of coconut tree, 25-30m of- to another. Opportunities for internal resettle- shore from Han Stump of coconut tree, 25m of Han Island, the Carteret Islands, Papua new Gui- ment between colonies, ruled by one common st colonial authority, no longer exist (Tabucanon, nea (21 november 2011, picture Julia Edwards) 2012), and any such move would be reliant on the bilateral or multilateral agreements between rights, residence and sustenance) appear inte- sending and receiving countries – the move rwoven in the deinition of Banaban kinship. today would have an international dimension, Land in Banaba was not merely the ground on from Kiribati to Fiji. hese two nations have re- which people lived, but a right and medium of cently completed an agreement that has enabled exchange between individuals (Teaiwa, 2005). the Kiribati government to purchase 2,210 hec- Undoubtedly, the island of Banaba was one of tares of land in Fiji to enhance its food security their most powerful cultural symbols (Silver- (Oice of the President, Republic of Kiribati, man, 1977; Teaiwa, 2005). 2014). he bilateral negotiations, that did not Mining destroyed many of the Banabans’ sa- include any agreement to resettle people, took cred water caves (bangabangas) (Sigrah and King, more than two years to complete, illustrating the 2001) and removed more than 20 million tons need to assign suicient time to any future relo- of topsoil (williams and Mcdonald, 1985). he cation proposal. island changed beyond recognition. Low-lying islands and coastal areas will similarly lose land direct and indirect causes of the relocation under rising seas, yet long before submergence, islands and shorelines will contract from encroa- ching waves, salt water will contaminate fresh- neither the Banabans previously nor those cur- water sources and populations will be forced to rently facing ccfd will have contributed greatly seek relocation elsewhere. to the situation that they face. Fertiliser, the end he slow-onset contamination process has product of phosphate extraction, was of limited already started. Some low-lying populations use to the Banabans who, with little soil, grew complain that ground-water supplies have a few crops, and today, small island-developing salty taste (Locke, 2009). Community response states account for less than 1% of global green- either involves seeking alternative water sources house gas emissions (Julca and Paddison, 2010). (weir and Virani, 2011) or, in some atolls such he contribution to global climate change of any as in Kiribati, it is reported, they mix coconut one low-lying island or at-risk community will be negligible. In both the Banaban case and with toddy (the sweet sap from the coconut lower) with fresh water in an attempt to disguise the sa- ccfd, the root cause of the relocation is econo- th mic development elsewhere by people unaware line taste (Anterea, interview, 4 October 2011, (or uncaring) of the efects of their behaviour on Tarawa, Kiribati). when ground-water sources others. become unreliable and fresh rainwater scarce, communities will be forced to consider relocation. Paradoxically, Banaba Island, the only Geography and the importance of land raised island in the Kiribati group, ofers i-Ki- ribati (the people of Kiribati) little escape from People and land in the Paciic have a very spe- the rising seas, as Banaba records a long history cial, intuitive relationship (Campbell, 2010). of sustained periods of drought and a scarcity of Land to the Banabans was of such immense fresh water (Binder, 1977). Recurring droughts importance that Silverman (1971) proposed were probably responsible for many people lea- a «blood and mud hypothesis», where people ving Banaba in the past, that resulted in periodic (sharing a common identity) and locality (land population declines (Silverman, 1971). PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 131

Importance of homeland, identity and a sense of cal, social and economic efects of permanently belonging losing one’s homeland are yet to be determined for displaced-atoll islanders. he Banabans own two islands, Banaba and Rabi. Resettled on Rabi, they have dual iden- Culture, identity and integration tity: they are Banabans from Banaba, and they express that they are Rabians from Rabi (Kempf Relocation may result in the potential loss of and Hermann, 2005). language and culture (Kelman and west, 2009). Many Banabans articulate a desire to visit Ba- he Banabans had a distinctive, rich culture in naba Island during their lifetime. Such a return, Banaba, expressed in rituals, dance, marriages, though diicult to arrange, would not be impos- adoptions and the taming of frigate birds. Phos- sible for individuals to make (submerged islands phate mining already threatened the traditions leave no options of return). Banabans realise, of the Banabans, but further erosion occurred though, that a collective return to their ancestral with the relocation of the community to Rabi. homeland is highly unlikely. Reminders of Ba- On the larger island of Rabi, islanders said that naba Island live on in the village names in Rabi, they were no longer able to call out to each other however, and for communal activities, such as from village to village as they had done on Ba- intravillage competitions or food production, naba - distances were too great - and without a the villages divide into geographical sections that coastal road, horseback and sea transport were replicate the old Banaban model (Silverman, the only means of communication between sett- 1971). he recently-moved Tegua community, lements (Edwards, 2013a). In contrast, the two Vanuatu, however, chose to take on the name of current village relocations in Fiji are each mo- their new site, Lirak as their community name; ving to higher ground within the original village in their tradition names of places or living things boundary (Ravula, 2012; Silaitoga, 2012). he that sustain them are used to name settlements communities will remain intact, therefore, and or children (nakalevu and Phillips, undated). their identity and history maintained. when Such a focus on the present may assist the com- communities do not have land suitable to host munity to identify with their new location in the an entire community in one location, they are short term. likely to be dispersed across several locations. In In most cases of relocation, however, the pull the case of the relocation of the Carteret islan- of the ancestral home remains strong. According ders ive diferent sites on the larger, main island to Corrie, a few hundred people have returned of Bougainville, Papua new Guinea have been to Banaba to act as a retaining population on identiied for resettlement - each given by the the island (Corrie interview, 2nd February 2011, Roman Catholic Church - but none are adjacent Suva, Fiji), though it is believed the island could to one another (Edwards, 2013b). not sustain a greater population because of its while distances between resettlement areas very limited water supply (McAdam, 2012). he may cause dilution, conversely, isolation may well-publicised relocation of the Carteret Islands strengthen culture. he Banabans were fortu- community, Papua new Guinea also projects nate to be able to purchase a «vacant» island. that half the population will remain in the is- he physical geography of an isolated landmass lands by 2020 (Lokani, 2011), and it seems rea- can help retain cultural identity as interactions sonable to assume that others afected by ccfd with neighbouring (host) communities may be will make similar requests to retain population limited. Entire islands rarely come to market, in the homeland. By moving some of the people however, and opportunities to buy an island, exposed to climate risk away from the afected and even freehold land, will be limited in the area, the capacity of the remaining population future. Communities facing relocation may have to adapt to climate change may be enhanced to accept integration into an already-occupied (Hugo, 2010). area with all the associated cultural, social and not only were the Banabans forcibly removed political issues (Bronen, 2014). Islanders at-risk from their island home, but a sizeable portion of relocation may be reliant, therefore, on the (20 million tons) of the physical land of Banaba good will of others in inding them a new home. was also shipped elsewhere in the form of phos- Much of the culture of the Banabans exists only phate to Australia and new Zealand (Teaiwa, in modern-day text books, and these are writ- 2005). Teaiwa, therefore questioned, should the ten in English, a language, Corrie notes, that is Banaban equally yearn after some agricultural foreign to the majority of the people they des- ield in Australia or new Zealand, fertilized with cribe (Corrie, interview, 2nd February 2011, Suva, Banaban topsoil, as they do their island home? Fiji). he Banabans say that their day-to-day lives (Teaiwa, 2005). have lost the richness of their unique culture. he disappearance of «sinking» atolls may leave Cultural displays, such as dancing, are now no trace of homeland and may make custody the preserve of marriages and other special occa- impossible in the longer term; the psychologi- sions (Kempf, 2003), such as the newly-intro- 132 JOURnAL de LA SOCIÉTÉ deS OCÉAnISTeS duced Banaba day, on the 15th december each To date, the Fiji government has inanced 75% year. he Banabans have feared their eventual of relocation projects’ costs, with the community assimilation into the Fijian cultural mainstream expected to fund the remainder (Pareti, 2013). (Sigrah and King, 2004: 1046), and try to use In the future, however, it is questionable whether the performing arts (singing, dancing and sto- with the projected increased incidents of ccfd rytelling) to spatially anchor, preserve and com- that national governments will be able to conti- municate their history, traditions and culture to nue to fund similar projects, and monies will others (Kempf, 2003). need to be sought from elsewhere (Pareti, 2013).

Post-relocation support Conclusions he Banabans had little knowledge of farming or of reef ishing, and upon arrival, only had two Human mobility in the Paciic characterizes months of food rations. hey also assumed that the region’s past and present and probably will their stay would be temporary. when relocation its future. Ever-evolving culture, too, is not is permanent, more attention can be paid to both immune to movement and mergers (Hau’Ofa, the conditions and the process by which the 1994). what makes the Banabans unusual as a resettlement will take place (Ferris, 2011). he displaced people is that they were already dis- villagers of Tegue, Vanuatu were still building placed from their homeland by the war, prior to houses a year after the new site had been oicially their move to Rabi, and they had attained wealth opened, with assistance from the wider commu- and comfort from the phosphate-mining activi- nity and others from neighbouring islands (na- ty beyond that which they could have generated kalevu and Phillips, undated), though with less themselves. Many Paciic journeys of migration time spent on maintenance post-relocation, as are prompted by trade, exchange and opportu- their new, dryer homes did not rot, the community - none of which applies to the Banaban case. nity will have more time to focus on other deve- he new environment in Rabi was to be very lopment issues (nakalevu and Phillips, undated). diferent in every way from their experiences in Livelihoods need to be restored and communities Banaba and under Japanese occupation. reconstructed for each future ccfd. he colonial authorities had devised a resett- he Banabans did have the advantage of arri- lement action plan, and attempts were made at ving as one cohort (atoll islanders are unlikely settling the Banabans into their new home, but to experience a similar movement of people en- the timescale of a few months proved unrealistic. masse), but they arrived in an island without he Banaban people would need self-reliance to basic infrastructure and no immediate oppor- make Rabi a success. tunity for formal employment. Little attention Forced resettlement is now part of the histori- was given by the authorities to the group’s men- cal narrative of the people of Banaba, one com- tal and socio-economic well-being. Of the irst munity case study within the wider narrative of ive Carteret Islands families to move to the new mining exploitation in the Paciic; forced resettle- relocation site in Bougainville, three returned ment and mining exploitation are one part of the home within a few months unable to settle into broader history of mobility in the Paciic-Island the new environment (Edwards, 2013b). context, a mobility that includes climate change. he re-establishment of a settled community is a long process and can take many years. Lessons Funding and compensation to take forward for future ccfd are numerous. he most pressing issues are the need for the Future climate injustice will be as much an is- involvement of the community at the initial dis- sue for people afected by ccfd as development- cussions stage, including in the assessment of an induced injustice was for the Banabans. he alternative home, and for long-term, post-relo- Banabans funded their relocation with royalties cation planning, which includes the creation of from their own phosphate fund, and only sought sustainable livelihoods. Addressing these issues compensation some twenty years later (Sigrah will not be possible without on-going support and King, 2001). Most atoll islanders, inding by external agencies for those displaced, and that themselves threatened with permanent displace- support needs to start now. ment, will have no means by which to fund their relocation. In Solomon Islands, the napa states: BIBLIOGRAPHY «Relocation of communities and/or villages will necessarily become the responsibility of the govern- st ments at all levels (i.e. community/local, provincial Anon, 1946 (1 March). Banabans who wish and national).» (Solomon Islands, 2008: 86). to proceed to Ocean Island for delineation PHOSPHATE MInInG And THE RELOCATIOn OF THE BAnABAnS In FIJI 133

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