<B>Member of “Groupe Réfugiés Chagos”</B>

<B>You have recently been on your native island after such a long time. Can you tell us what you felt when you got there</B>

I have been really happy. I have been able to see the place where my parents and I were born. But the thing that I appreciated the most was the fact that I saw the island “six îles et trois frères” and all the small islands surrounding it. On the islands we went, we did some rituals and threw flowers in the water where many Chagossians lost their lives on their way to Mauritius. Then, we went to “île Salomon”. But we were not allowed to walk on Diego Garcia. However, I was extremely sad of having been left on the ship. We cried a lot. What made us sad was the fact that my whole family was not with us for the trip. It reminded me of the time when I was unrooted in 1972 from my native place. I still remember we went to cemeteries and to the chapel where we had a religious ceremony. After that, the president of our group, Oliver Bancoult, introduced me to the British in charge of the islands. I could not control myself. It was not easy for me.

I fell down, I cried and I shouted. Oliver Bancoult then tried to cheer me up.

It was impossible. The other thing that affected us was the fact that we knew we would have to come back to Mauritius and we were not going to stay on our islands! A one-day visit is far from enough!

<B>After that visit, do you still feel motivated about getting back to your island?</B>

The fight that we “Groupe Refugiés Chagos” carried out had an objective. We did not put a case in the Privy Council for no reason. We want to get back to our islands. But the British and the Americans will have to tidy the island and put it back to the state it was before their arrival. Right now it is not! The area where we thought we could live does not exist anymore, the hospital doesn’t exist anymore and our gardens as well. I was born in Diego so I want to go back there! Here it is hell!

<B> So, you see Mauritius as hell?</B>

For me, yes, Mauritius is hell. I have been taken away from the paradise. We have been welcomed in an extraordinary way in Diego.

<B> But, because of the situation right now, do you not see life in Chagos dificult?</B>

I have seen all I had to see. I am not scared of anything! All I want is to go and live in my native country. Give me back my country in a good state so that I can go back to live there! But now I will not go without anything! First, we need to be paid compensation. I will keep on fighting to go back!

Is it not a problem for your family and you to leave a developed country for another less developed?

When I came back from this trip, my grandchildren told me that, if tomorrow the English government told them to go back to live there, they would be ready to go and put the island back in a good state. Mauritius can be more developed than Chagos. I do not refute this fact. But I was born in Diego, I grew up and got six children there! Here, in Mauritius, you need money to survive! In Diego I did not need money! We know how to fish and find our food by other means. I did not have any worry about my children taking drugs or anything similar. Over there, people were healthy. Here, we are being attacked by mosquitoes!

Does that mean the fight is still on?</B>