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Eviction from the Chagos Islands
Displacement and Struggle for Identity Against Two World Powers
Series: - African History, Volume: 1
This book examines the history and contemporary living conditions of Chagossians who were evicted from the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean to make way for a strategic U.S. military base. Initially part of colonial Mauritius, Chagos was integrated into a new colony named the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965. In 1966, Great Britain transferred control of Diego Garcia, the largest Chagos island, to the Americans under a fifty year lease. The expulsions which followed were designed to satisfy the U.S. demand for an unpopulated territory. The Chagossians were thus forced to resettle in Mauritius and the Seychelles, where livelihoods are poor and marginalized. The Chagossians are currently engaged in a campaign seeking right of return to the archipelago and recognition as a people forced to live in diaspora.
Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Ph.D., is associate professor and senior researcher at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University Amsterdam. She acts as convener of an international working group on the anthropology of children: www.anthropologyofchildren.net and directs a research project on foreign large-scale land acquisitions in Africa and Madagascar.
Marry Kooy is a freelance journalist who holds a Masters degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from VU University Amsterdam. She is reading for her second Masters degree, in Christian Studies of Science and Society, at the Department of Philosophy, VU University Amsterdam.
Marry Kooy is a freelance journalist who holds a Masters degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from VU University Amsterdam. She is reading for her second Masters degree, in Christian Studies of Science and Society, at the Department of Philosophy, VU University Amsterdam.
"This collection is a comprehensive compendium of texts on the Chagossians and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Not only is it of value to those familiar with the islands and their inhabitants, but it provides a thorough overview of the islandsâ history, culture, traumas and imaginaries for those for whom the story is little known." - Iain Walker, COMPAS, University of Oxford
"Evers and Kooy showcase some original contributions to the historical, anthropological, and legal literatures on the Indian Ocean, demonstrating that edited volumes are most effective when they go beyond simply summarizing the existing literature. The book is well written and accessible, and will be of benefit to students (undergraduate and advanced) and researchers alike." - Peter Harris, University of Texas at Austin, In: African Affairs, 111(444) (2012), 503-506
"Evers and Kooy showcase some original contributions to the historical, anthropological, and legal literatures on the Indian Ocean, demonstrating that edited volumes are most effective when they go beyond simply summarizing the existing literature. The book is well written and accessible, and will be of benefit to students (undergraduate and advanced) and researchers alike." - Peter Harris, University of Texas at Austin, In: African Affairs, 111(444) (2012), 503-506
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 âFootprint of Freedomâ: A History of Chagos and the Chagossians ............11
David Vine
Clement Siatous: Chagossian Artist in Exile ............................................37
âNative Ilois of Chagosâ: Excerpts from the Narratives of Dussercle (1933â36) .............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
Responsibility and Redress: Th e 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: âChagos, Just Plain Injusticeâ ...............217
âA Lost Peopleâ? 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 ......................................................................................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 âFootprint of Freedomâ: A History of Chagos and the Chagossians ............11
David Vine
Clement Siatous: Chagossian Artist in Exile ............................................37
âNative Ilois of Chagosâ: Excerpts from the Narratives of Dussercle (1933â36) .............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
Responsibility and Redress: Th e 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: âChagos, Just Plain Injusticeâ ...............217
âA Lost Peopleâ? 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
This book is of interest to readers interested in (forced) migration, displacement, diaspora, refugee studies, geopolitics, slavery, colonialism, post-colonialism, memory and retrieval, indigenous peoples, Mauritius, Seychelles and Indian Ocean Studies.