Eviction from the Chagos Islands

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.

• CONTENTSList of Illustrations ......................................................................................viiTimeline .........................................................................................................ixAcknowledgements ..................................................................................... xvRedundancy on the Instalment Plan: Chagossians and the Right to be Called a People ........................1Sandra J.T.M. Evers & Marry KooyFrom the Birth of the Ilois to the “Footprint of Freedom”: A History of Chagos and the Chagossians ............11David VineClement Siatous: Chagossian Artist in Exile ............................................37“Native Ilois of Chagos”: Excerpts from the Narratives of Dussercle (1933–36) .............41Vinesh Y. HookoomsingAtman Ramchalaon: Seeking the Facts .....................................................59The Making of the Chagos Affair: Myths and Reality ............................61Jocelyn Chan LowCharlesia Alexis: The Struggle of the Chagossian Women .....................81Sorrow, Sadness, and Impoverishment: The Lives of Chagossians in Mauritius .............83Laura Jeffery and David VineBernadette Dugasse: Born in Diego Garcia December 1956 ...............................................103Chagossians Twice Forgotten: Exile in the Seychelles ..........................105David VineAllen Vincatassin: Negotiating Life in Mauritius and the UK..............125Responsibility and Redress: Th e Chagossian Litigation in the English Courts ..............127Stephen AllenOlivier Bancoult: Leading the Way Back to Chagos ..............................153Self-Determination in the Post-Colonial Era: Prospects for the Chagossians ...................157Maureen TongAurélie Marie-Lisette Talate: Young Again in Diego .............................181Cleaning for the Dead: The Chagossian Pilgrimage to their Homeland ........................183Steffen F. JohannessenPerspectives of a UK Member of Parliament: “Chagos, Just Plain Injustice” ...............217‘A Lost People’? Chagossian onward Migration and Echoes of Marginalisation in CrawleyLaura Jeffery ........................................................................................ 219Reverend Mario Li Hing: Committed to the Chagossian Cause .............................239Longing and Belonging in Real Time: How Chagossian Children in Mauritius Imagine the Chagos Islands ....241Sandra J.T.M. EversAbout the Authors .....................................................................................273Bibliography ...............................................................................................277Index ...........................................................................................................289

"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 islands’ 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