Case study: Louis Onesimi

In a rusty shack in the poorest corner of Port Louis, the Mauritian capital, Louis Onesimi dreams of once again setting foot on what he calls the "paradise" of the Chagos islands where he was born more than 80 years ago, but fears yesterday's ruling has come too late for him.His gaunt body is racked by coughing, but his eyes brighten when he remembers his homeland: "I was like a fish in the sea when I lived in Chagos. We had everything we needed and we never went hungry."...

Now he shares his two roomed shack with 24 members of his extended family. His grandchildren run in and out, splashing barefoot into the stagnant water outside. There are no sewers and water sits in a slick on the street."Here children go to bed without eating," Louis says.
Louis was one of thousands of islanders removed from the Chagos archipelago by the British between 1967 and 1973.
Forced to leave most of their possessions behind, they became homeless and unemployed and, unable to speak to the local language, have lived in slums ever since.
Perched on an old deckchair, one of only a few pieces of furniture he owns, Mr Onesimi shakes his head sadly: "I would like to go back home, but it will be too late for me. I wish I could go back as a young man."
The personal cost of the deportation stills sits heavy on other islanders. Lissette Tallate, a tiny quietly-spoken woman of 65, whispers her memories of being told their homeland was "being closed".
She watched as their pets were gassed in the "calorifer" used in copra production before starting the thousand mile journey to Mauritius.
"Two of my children died within eight days of each other when we arrived in Mauritius. I still blame the journey, we were crowded into the hold and lots of us became ill and developed health problems."
Islanders say their families were also split up. Emelienne Issai lives in the same shanty town as Louis Onesimi. She says she hasn't seen her husband or son for almost 40 years: "“My husband was from the Seychelles and when I was removed from the island he was visiting family there with our son. I was brought to Mauritius and haven't been able to see either of them ever since.”






source ---via Guardian Unlimited