The drama of the Chagossians, who were forced 50 years ago to evacuate the Indian Ocean archipelago where they lived to make way for an American military base, has a particular resonance for Denise Roose.
“It still lives in me […]. I have never stopped talking about what happened to them since then, “says the 82-year-old woman in an interview with The Press.
INFOGRAPHIC THE PRESS
The decoration of the walls of her residence in Mont-Blanc, in the Laurentians, testifies to a long-standing passion for sailing which explains how she and her husband, Daniel, now deceased, faced the tragic fate of the expelled population.
In 1973, the couple took to the sea to undertake a circumnavigation aboard the family sailboat that would last almost a decade.
After staying in French Polynesia and the Fiji Islands in particular, they bypassed Australia and set sail in the summer of 1977 for Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, where a shock awaited them.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Denise Roose
“My husband said to me once there, ‘You know, from now on, we’re halfway there, we’re going home.’ When he told me that, I was terribly distressed, even if the return would take years,” she said.
The couple, who are thirsty for new adventures, decide in July to set sail for the Chagos Archipelago, thousands of kilometers further west, taking advantage of buoyant winds that will turn a few months later.
PHOTO ARCHIVE REUTERS
Aerial view of the Diego Garcia Atoll of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean
They know nothing then, or almost, of the situation of the archipelago, except that they will have to organize themselves to live in complete autonomy.
It was only during a brief stopover in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, underlines Mme Roose, that navigators take the measure of what awaits them at their destination.
“There were American servicemen on leave on site. They told us that there were no civilians in the Chagos Archipelago, that they had to leave, that a contract had been signed between Great Britain and the United States to establish a military base . We took it all in,” she says.
More than 1500 people evacuated from 1965 to 1973
According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, Washington demanded that Diego Garcia Atoll, where the base still stands, be emptied of its population. Britain would then have decided to evacuate civilians from the entire archipelago, spread over hundreds of kilometers.
From 1965 to 1973, more than 1500 people were forced to leave. Some were fooled and could not return after a vacation. Others were forcibly placed on ships and evacuated to Mauritius, which today claims control of the archipelago, or the Seychelles Islands.
Arriving in the Solomon Islands, which are part of the Chagos Archipelago, the Rooses discover the remains of a small settlement adjoining a coconut plantation. The lush vegetation has reasserted itself and is trying to engulf several buildings, the atmosphere is ghostly. Documents left behind bear witness to past economic activity.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENISE ROOSE
Several buildings in the archipelago were overgrown.
The couple have other more pressing concerns, however. The Rooses decide to stay in one of the abandoned buildings by recovering beds left behind. “The first night, rodents were running over us,” says Ms.me Roose.
Food needs are also far from assured as a long stay begins.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENISE ROOSE
The abandoned building used by the Rooses during their stay on the Chagos Archipelago
They find a banana plantation on a nearby island, take advantage of the presence of breadfruit trees offering large fruits and endeavor to produce oil from coconuts. A former prison is used to house chickens brought from Christmas Island. Fishing also allows them to sustain themselves.
“In Survival Mode”
Only two weeks after their arrival, the Rooses see a trawler come fishing in the archipelago. The couple are invited on board, but are not overly interested in the fishermen, including several Chagossians who are on board because they know the local waters well.
“We were focused on ourselves because we were in survival mode”, notes with regret Mme Roose, noting that the quest for “flour” had become a real obsession for her.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENISE ROOSE
Denise Roose drops fruit from a breadfruit tree.
Although it is theoretically forbidden for him to meet in the archipelago, the couple does not hesitate to produce a large banner to alert American pilots on patrol to his food needs.
“They were waving us bye-bye with their wings. But we never had any flour,” she says.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENISE ROOSE
The couple produced a large banner to alert American pilots on patrol to their flour needs.
Their life cut off from the world will continue without major clash for 10 months until the winds change direction and allow them to set sail again towards the west without ever having been disturbed by the authorities.
A New Zealand navigator who had requested assistance from the Diego Garcia base later advised them that the American pilots had concealed their presence from the local British official.
“They wanted to keep us out of trouble. Even if we had been asked to leave, we could have pleaded that we were caught because of the winds”, underlines Mme Roose.
The Quebecer, who has testified on several occasions to the distressing spectacle she saw on the spot, thinks that the British and American authorities could have proceeded differently with the Chagossians and pleads for them to be able to recover their lands without further delay.
“Many have since died, but their children and grandchildren should be able to return. What was done is completely inhuman,” she said.