WIn 1970, Laurenza Piron was forced to leave Chagos Island and sent on a boat to the Seychelles. Her parents and siblings were sent to Mauritius. It took two decades for them to relocate, and even then neither of them could afford a reunion. So Piron, now 76, never saw his family again.
“I wanted to leave, but I didn’t have money,” says Piron. “The compensation should have been paid. If it had, there would be no such difficulties. “
Piron was among the 1,500 people forced to leave the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean archipelago, by the American and British military. Great Britain, which owned the land, had leased the largest island, Diego Garcia, USA to build a military base.
Last year, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that continued British occupation of the islands was illegal.
In the 1970s, Britain gave the Mauritanian government £ 4.65 million to distribute to the Chagossians in compensation, but no money was paid to people sent to the Seychelles.
The exiles hope it will change as they file a new petition under the US Foreign Claims Act, which provides compensation for non-combatant injuries, death or property damage by US military personnel abroad.
“Based on [2019] The UN ruling is an illegal occupation of the Chagos Islands, “said Jonathan Levy, a US lawyer representing the Chagos in the petition. “We are telling the government: you owe damage to the Chagossian people because they operated a military base on their property.”
In October, the US Air Force Department rejected a first attempt, stating: “It has been established that the payment of claims is not in the interest of the US government.” However, the legal team is planning a new legal action after President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January.
“The incoming Biden administration is trying to change US foreign policy, and the Chagos archipelago is a good place to start by recognizing Chagosians’ claims to their property and land and paying a small refund, given the immense value of Diego’s unpaid use. Garcia has offered the United States for the past five decades, “says Levy.
Travel brochures describe the Seychelles as an island paradise, an oasis of golden beaches and crystal clear waters. But for the Chagossians, it was a place of discrimination, poverty and homelessness.
When Piron first came to the Seychelles with her husband and three children, they slept on foot under a rooster.
“It would take an hour to go to school without shoes,” said Laurenza’s son Jean-Joseph, 55, who was five when he arrived on the island. “On the way, I was picking fruit from the trees and this would be breakfast because I had no money to eat. Concentrating on lessons was impossible on an empty stomach “, he explains, through tears.
France establishes a colony
Diego Garcia is hosted by a French colony using slave labor on the plantations
Britain is taking control
Mauritius and the Chagos Islands are ceded to Britain at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the Treaty of Paris
It becomes part of the British Indian Ocean Territory
Before Mauritius gained independence, Britain separated the Chagos archipelago from Mauritius, creating British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
Military agreement with the USA
The UK allows the US to use the largest island, Diego Garcia, as a military base in exchange for a reduction in the purchase of Polaris missiles.
The expulsions begin
The forced expulsion of about 1,500 chagos begins because access to food supplies is restricted. Most are moved to Mauritius or the Seychelles.
Compensation is offered
The Chagossian refugees from Mauritius were paid compensation and several offers followed depending on the signing of the agreements not to return home.
Relocation to the UK
British passports are issued to Chagosians. Many move from Mauritius to Crawley. A feasibility study by the British government on relocation concludes that it would be costly and difficult.
Wikileaks revelations
A marine protected area is established around the Chagos Islands. Documents published by Wikileaks show a British diplomat who said that “the establishment of a marine park would, in fact, be paid for the resettlement applications of the former residents of the archipelago”.
Government actions were considered illegal
The International Court of Justice ruled that the agreement to separate the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965 before decolonization was illegal.
Many Chagossians in the Seychelles were disturbed by the locals, they were told to return where they came from. They were called Anara, which meant uncivilized, dirty and unvaccinated.
The family always strove to reach the end. Piron’s husband found work as a fisherman, and eventually the family managed to build a small household in the woods, not far from the coconut trees where they had slept.
“We have never run out of food [Chagos] islands. If we needed fish, we would go get something from the ocean, “says Piron, but she adds:” Life is hard here, very hard. I’m fighting.”
Georgette Gendron, 67, of Diego Garcia, came to the Seychelles at the age of 12 with her parents and five siblings. With nowhere to go, the whole family lived in one narrow room in the basement of a relative’s house.
“There was no house, no food, nothing. You can imagine that you are told to go, without a place, with all those children. We were just like refugees, ”says Gendron. “My mother was very miserable. He had health problems. There was a time when my father didn’t have a job. “
Cyril Bertrand, 72, was in the Seychelles for medical treatment when the Chagos Islands were closed. His family – seven brothers and his father – were sent to Mauritius.
“The military pursued my family with weapons. They did not want to leave the island. It’s a sad story, “he said.
Bertrand settled in the Seychelles, got married, found a job and was one of the few who allowed himself to visit his family in Mauritius. Many Chagossians are not so lucky, he says.
Many of the first generation of the exiled population are elderly, poor and reconcile with the prospect of not seeing their homeland. “Most die here in the Seychelles,” says Bertrand. “I never get to Mauritius. Even if they have family there. “
In 2016, the British government unveiled a £ 40million support package for community projects for Chagossians living in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles, to be paid over a decade. To date, less than 2% of this fund has been distributed.
The Chagossians interviewed said they had no money.
“Compensation would mean we could have had a better life here,” says Gendron. “The mistakes should be corrected. What about justice? “
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