United Seychelles celebrates party’s origin through exhibition |05 June 2024
GRAN REPORTAZ: CHAGOSYEN SESELWA 52AN APRE - 29-05-2025
As the world approaches the solemn anniversary of the June 5th 1977 coup d'état in Seychelles, we are reminded how much of our collective regional history has been shaped in silence, exile, and selective memory. A recent video, Through the Mists of History, offers some reflection on Seychelles' past, but like so many narratives, it bypasses critical chapters—notably, the fate of the Chagossians in Seychelles and the deeper implications of the SIROP program.
While the documentary mentions Mr. Félix Houreau and his role during and after the 1977 upheavals, it omits the broader, painful truth: the Chagossians who were exiled to Seychelles, many of whom were housed in facilities like Union Vale with little support or recognition. It ignores the experience of those who landed with no home or shelter, and those who would later be incarcerated amid post-coup tensions.
In 1979, I personally met Mr. Houreau in Swansea, where he served as a Councillor. He was deeply knowledgeable on the Chagos dossier and the historical connections to the Moulinier family. At that time, we discussed the industrial research undertaken by UNIDO and the World Bank for a potential Indian Ocean Industrial Investment Promotion Centre, as well as the conceptual origins of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI). Mr. Houreau also chaired the SEA, a UK-registered charity committed to these causes. After his death, efforts were made to rebuild this entity.
When people today speak boldly of Chagos and Mauritius' sovereignty claims, they often forget the lived reality of exile. The trauma experienced by those who were displaced, who lost land, livelihoods, and identity, is still not adequately addressed. Many never returned home. Many still live in silence.
This is why the SIROP program matters. It was not just a political strategy. It was a civil society-driven plan for peaceful regime change and reconciliation. It brought together European support to counter the spread of communism in the region—an effort that BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) was initially meant to enforce by military means. Yet it was the soft power and multilateral diplomacy behind SIROP that truly reshaped regional dynamics.
Sadly, the TRNUC (Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission) failed to incorporate SIROP into its findings. This omission is not just a bureaucratic oversight; it reflects a deeper reluctance to reckon with alternative histories—those written not by governments or armies, but by displaced people, thinkers, and political exiles.
Mauritius today may celebrate diplomatic victories and legal claims, but it is essential to acknowledge that neither Britain nor the United States alone removed communism from the Indian Ocean. That shift came through mechanisms like SIROP, supported by European networks, and shaped by forces in Africa, the Gulf, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
The current geopolitical climate calls for clarity. With AI and digital platforms allowing the public to revisit suppressed or forgotten narratives, there is now space to reflect honestly on the past. We call on the Seychelles exile community to step forward, to share what they know about SIROP, Chagos, and the political experiments that shaped modern Indian Ocean history.
As history often reminds us, destiny is shaped not just by treaties and territorial disputes, but by the courage to tell the truth. Between BIOT and SIROP lies a fuller, more honest story of our region—one that we must now reclaim, before it is lost again.
Judge clears way for Government to sign Chagos Islands deal after injunction
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2 comments:
This is the first time we use AI to write and publish a critical post. There are several misrepresented items - it requires time to edit and reedit in AI
The original topic is at our forum
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