Thank you India – and Mahatma: For Chagos Island refugees, a long battle and a note of gratitude

Six decades ago, the United Kingdom terrorised and evicted 2,000 coconut farmers from their native Chagos archipelago, more than 2,700 km south of India, and handed over Diego Garcia, its largest island, to the United States for its most important overseas military base.

Last week, the UK finally agreed to hand Chagos back to Mauritius. Padma Rao Sundarji spoke over the phone to an elated Olivier Bancoult, 60, leader of the Chagos Refugees Group in Port Louis, Mauritius, which had fought and won every legal battle against the UK for six decades.

“The Mahatma taught me what I did: to take the UK to court armed with legal files, not weapons,” said Bancoult.

The announcement will also have geo-political ramifications with the US retaining its military base on the island of Diego Garcia, leased to it by the UK. In the UK, Conservatives have raised alarm over Mauritius’s ties with China. “Knowing that there is a US military base there, I don’t think Mauritius would be so stupid,” said Bancoult.

For now, however, with the final agreement yet to be drafted, the refugees are looking forward to return to their homes – at long last. “…we will seize this opportunity, of course,” he said. “We will return to Peros Banhos and Salomon, our native islands.”

Six decades ago, you were a toddler growing up in the idyllic Chagos islands. Your family was one of the 2,000-strong community of poor but happy coconut farmers who pressed copra. Chagos belonged to British-colony Mauritius and were known as the “oil islands”. One day, your house pets were killed, your families were terrorised, forced aboard ships and dumped in newly-independent Mauritius and Seychelles. UK hung on to Chagos and leased Diego Garcia to the US in exchange for Pershing missiles. That is the US’s most important overseas military base to date. Meanwhile, you lived in shanty towns like Cassis in Port Louis in penury and misery. Yet you fought one legal battle after another and won all of them. Earlier this week, the UK returned Chagos to Mauritius. How do you feel?

It is very positive news. We fought for our dignity and our rights for so many years. And yet, the UK kept saying that they’re not guilty of snatching our homes. Now we have something official. Except for Diego Garcia where the US will remain, we can now return to the other 67 islands of our beautiful atolls. The UK has committed to a trust fund and other welfare measures for us. All this never happened before, so we will seize this opportunity of course. We will return to Peros Banhos and Salomon, our native islands. Even US President Joe Biden has given his blessings. But our struggle has to continue. If the US allows foreign workers like Filipinos and others to work on its military base in Diego Garcia, then we should also be given an opportunity to work there.

You need job opportunities for sure. Even if Diego Garcia remains offbounds, tourism to the six other stunningly beautiful atolls of Chagos could ensure that. However, the joint statement between the UK and Mauritius issued on October 3, doesn’t mention tourism even once. Instead, it outlines the establishment of a “Mauritian Marine Protected Area” in Chagos. But you’ve heard that story before. It was a frequent excuse by the UK to continue to ensure the isolation that the US demands for its military base. London always raised the bogey of “environmental protection” to prevent you from even occasionally visiting your own islands to tend to the graves of your ancestors. Don’t you think this might be a ruse again?

Well, the plan of a “marine protection area” that we have been presented by our government, is different. It envisages inhabitation of Peros Banhos and Salomon. We have to preserve and protect our church and cemetery there. Other islands can be part of any marine protection zone they wish – I think, even scientists will agree. Not all of Chagos will be considered a protected area. In any case, we Chagossians were always the real guardians of Chagos’s environment. So any programme pertaining to marine protection anywhere in Chagos must involve us.

So far, the two governments have only announced UK will hand back sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius. The final agreement is yet to be drafted. You have said you want to be part of that drafting committee. But you are Mauritian nationals, and your government is representing you anyway. So why must CRG [Chagos Refugees Group] also be involved?

We want to be part of the drafting process, because it concerns the future of Chagos, our native place. We are Mauritian citizens of course. But we were Chagossians first.

The announcement has critics too. British Conservatives have slammed it. They point to Mauritius’s Free Trade Agreement with China. Port Louis is very keen on infrastructural development, especially in solar energy, by China. The Tories warn that China will hog all the contracts to develop infrastructure in Chagos. What’s your take?

I don’t believe this will happen. Mauritius is also very close to India. India mediated in our favour throughout these long-winded negotiations. Knowing that there is a US military base there, I don’t think Mauritius would be so stupid. In any case, I’d like to ask these naysayers where they were, when the UK – including Tory governments – punished Chagos repeatedly over so many decades ?

There are about 10,000 persons of Chagossian origin around the world. Chagossian activists in London too, have slammed the announcement. They demand the removal of the US military base on Diego Garcia altogether. “Free Chagos” is still their parole. How do you feel about their stand?

Look, most of those people are third-generation Chagossians, they are British. That means their grandparents were born in Chagos. They themselves have no first-hand experience of the suffering we went through. They only want a British passport to settle in the UK. I feel ashamed for them. Over the past six decades, it is our CRG [Chagos Refugees Group] that led the legal battle across the world. CRG comprises of 329 Chagossians born in Peros Banhos and Salomon islands in Chagos. I was elected the leader of this group, under the supervision of a commission.

The International Court of Justice and the United Nations decided that Chagos belongs to Mauritius. And they did so, only after considering all evidence and arguments presented. So how can anyone go against the UN, the ICJ, the highest court for international disputes? We would be happy if these UK-based Chagossian groups joined in our efforts to take this forward constructively.

The Chagossians are originally of African-Tamil origin, settled on the islands by French colonisers in the early 1700s. Little remains of your Indian roots and you speak Bourbonnais-Creole. How do you see India’s role as mediator in this conflict ? India has for long supported your cause.

Thinking of this aspect makes me emotional. We are very thankful to India. It is India’s contribution, India’s support that has helped find a solution and put an end to the injustices suffered by us. You know, the two main persons who were my inspiration? Nelson Mandela and – Mahatma Gandhi. The Mahatma taught me what I did: to take the UK to court armed with legal files, not weapons.

Padma Rao Sundarji’s work on Diego Garcia for Der Spiegel, has appeared in The New York Times and in Foreign Correspondent: 50 years of reporting South Asia, Penguin publishers.