Eviction from the Chagos Islands African History

Eviction from the Chagos Islands African History VOLUME 1 Eviction from the Chagos Islands Displacement and Struggle for Identity Against Two World Powers Edited by Sandra J.T.M. Evers Marry Kooy LEIDEN • BOSTON LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 Cover illustration: ‘Uprooted’, Mauritius, 2008. Photograph by AnneMarie Glas. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eviction from the Chagos Islands : displacement and struggle for identity against two world powers / edited by Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Marry Kooy. p. cm. -- (African history; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-90-04-20260-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. British Indian Ocean Territory-- History--20th century. 2. Population transfers--Chagossians. 3. Chagossians--History. 4. Chagossians--Biography. 5. Refugees--British Indian Ocean Territory. 6. Refugees-- Mauritius. 7. Refugees--Seychelles. I. Evers, Sandra II. Kooy, Marry. III. Title. IV. Series. DS349.9.C42E95 2011 969’.7--dc22 2011007059 ISSN 2211-1441 ISBN 978 90 04 20260 3 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. Contents List of Illustrations ��vii Timeline ��ix Acknowledgements ��xv Redundancy on the Instalment Plan: Chagossians and the Right to be Called a People ��1 Sandra J.T.M. Evers & Marry Kooy From the Birth of the Ilois to the “Footprint of Freedom”: A History of Chagos and the Chagossians ��11 David Vine Clement Siatous: Chagossian Artist in Exile ��37 “Native Ilois of Chagos”: Excerpts from the Narratives of Dussercle (1933–36) ��41 Vinesh Y. Hookoomsing Atman Ramchalaon: Seeking the Facts ��59 The Making of the Chagos Affair: Myths and Reality ��61 Jocelyn Chan Low Charlesia Alexis: The Struggle of the Chagossian Women ��81 Sorrow, Sadness, and Impoverishment: The Lives of Chagossians in Mauritius ��83 Laura Jeffery and David Vine Bernadette Dugasse: Born in Diego Garcia December 1956 ��103 Chagossians Twice Forgotten: Exile in the Seychelles ��105 David Vine Allen Vincatassin: Negotiating Life in Mauritius and the UK..............125 vi contents Responsibility and Redress: The Chagossian Litigation in the English Courts ��127 Stephen Allen Olivier Bancoult: Leading the Way Back to Chagos ��153 Self-Determination in the Post-Colonial Era: Prospects for the Chagossians ��157 Maureen Tong Aurélie Marie-Lisette Talate: Young Again in Diego ��181 Cleaning for the Dead: The Chagossian Pilgrimage to their Homeland ��183 Steffen F. Johannessen Perspectives of a UK Member of Parliament: “Chagos, Just Plain Injustice” ��217 ‘A Lost People’? Chagossian onward Migration and Echoes of Marginalisation in Crawley Laura Jeffery �� 219 Reverend Mario Li Hing: Committed to the Chagossian Cause ��239 Longing and Belonging in Real Time: How Chagossian Children in Mauritius Imagine the Chagos Islands ��241 Sandra J.T.M. Evers About the Authors ��273 Bibliography ��277 Index ��289 List of Illustrations Maps 1. Chagos Islands on the World Map ��xvi 2. Map Chagos Islands ��xvii 3. Map Diego Garcia ��xviii Illustrations 1. Painting by Clement Siatous, Memories of Chagos ��39 2. Rev. Roger Dussercle ��42 3. Text and Musical Transcription of a Çanté Zavirons ‘Innocement’ ��44 4. Map Ile d’Aigle ��49 5. Text and Musical Transcription of Death Song ‘Aniwawaoh’ ��52 6. Voyage of the Diego, 1934 ��58 7. Plight of Chagossians. Source unknown. ��156 8. Sketched Route of the Chagossian Pilgrimage from Port Louis to Chagos, 2006 ��185 9. Religious Ceremony in the Abandoned Church on Peros Banhos during the Pilgrimage. ©Photo: Norbert Salomon ��203 10. Clement Siatous: “Peros Banhos Abandoned.” Painting of an abandoned building in Peros Banhos made by a Chagossian artist living in Mauritius. ��211 11. Drawing by Lilli, Life in Chagos ��243 12. Drawing by Anne, Life in Salomon ��245 13. Drawing on Life in Mauritius ��252 14. Picture taken by Daniel (eleven years) showing Chagossian dwellings just after the floods of March 2008. ��258 15. Drawing by Marie, Life in Diego Garcia ��260 16. Drawing by Lianne, Life in Chagos ��261 17. Drawing by Elle, Life in Chagos ��265 18. Drawing by Angie, Life in Chagos ��266 19. Drawing by Rozy, Life in Chagos ��267 20. Drawing by Aurelie, Life in Chagos ��268 21. Picture by Daniel of his brother and his brother’s motor cycle ��269 TIMELINE 1500s Chagos islands visited and mapped out by Portuguese, who begin using the islands as a stopover between the Cape (South Africa) and India. 1598 Dutch East India Company (VOC) starts using Mauritius as a resupply hub between Europe and East Asia. Formal settlement in 1638. 1700s France and England compete for the islands in the western Indian Ocean as strategic bases to control ship- ping routes to India. Ca. 1710 After failed settlement attempts, the Dutch abandon Mauritius. 1721 The French establish a successful permanent settlement on Mauritius (renamed Ile de France). Slave trade from mainly Madagascar and Eastern Africa. 1744 The French claim the Seychelles. 1744 The French claim Chagos’ Peros Banhos island. Numerous French and English voyages follow to inspect other island groups in the archipelago. In or around 1783 a plantation owner from Mauritius, Pierre Marie Le Normand, founds a settlement on pre- viously uninhabited Diego Garcia. He brings twenty- two slaves from Mauritius (most likely originally from Madagascar and East Africa), who, by all accounts, become the island’s first inhabitants. 1786 A settlement party of the British East India Company arrives in the Chagos archipelago to create a provision- ing plantation, only to discover the French settlement. Le Normand escapes to Mauritius. The British land- ing party also departs to prevent an international incident. 1786 onwards Fishing settlement and coconut plantations are estab- lished in the Chagos archipelago, the latter by Franco- Mauritian entrepreneurs. Labourers are principally slaves from Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar and the East coast of Africa. x timeline 1794–1810 The British seize control of the Seychelles and Mauritius. 1814 Treaty of Paris:

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