Arnaud Poulay never wanted to leave the small island of the Indian Ocean, Agalega, but this year he packed his bag and left, saddened by what he sees as fighting for his home.
Until recently, only 350 people lived in Agalega, fishing and growing coconuts. Some food was delivered four times a year by ship from the capital of Mauritius, 1,100km (680 miles) to the south. The small airport was rarely used except for medical emergencies.
But in 2015, Mauritius, of which the island nation of Agalega is a part, signed an agreement allowing India to build a 3,000m (3km) runway and a new jetty there, as part of the two countries’ deepening cooperation in maritime security. .
However, some Agalegan fear that this could develop into a full-fledged army.
Mr Poulay, a 44-year-old handyman and reggae singer, has led a campaign against the occupation.
He says: “I love my island and my island loves me. “But when this site was revealed, I knew I had to go.”
Agalega – two small islands covering 25 sq km, in the south-west of the Indian Ocean – would be an ideal place for India to monitor maritime travel. And a comparison of satellite images from 2019 with others taken in July this year shows how much has changed.
A carpet of palm trees has made way for the runway, which runs along the spine of the northern island between the two main towns – La Fourche in the north and Vingt-Cinq in the south.
Two 60-meter-wide structures can be seen sitting on a tarmac, at least one of which may be a hangar for the Indian Navy’s P-8I aircraft, according to Samuel Bashfield, a PhD scholar at the Australian National University.
The IP-8I is a Boeing 737 designed to hunt and potentially attack submarines, as well as monitor maritime communications. The islanders have already filmed the plane at the airport.
To the north-west there is a new jetty out to sea, which Mr Bashfield said could be used by Indian patrol vessels, as well as a cargo ship in Agalega.
“As new satellite images become available, we will better understand Agalega’s role in communications in the Indian Ocean,” he said.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies refers to the facility as a “surveillance station” and says it may contain a coastal radar surveillance system similar to Indian-built equipment elsewhere in Mauritius.
The Indian government declined to answer questions about Agalega, and referred the BBC to previous statements on its website. In one of these, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and Mauritius are “natural partners” in maritime security, facing traditional and non-traditional challenges in the Indian Ocean region.
The two countries have had close defense ties since the 1970s. The country’s national security adviser, its chief of coast guard and the chief of the helicopter force are all of Indian origin and officials in India’s foreign intelligence agency, navy and air force, respectively.
Both sides would like the center to be seen as “more focused on skills development than any overt military use,” said Prof Harsh Pant, of the India Institute at King’s College London.
However, it is no secret that India and its Western allies are concerned about China’s expansion in the Indian Ocean.
While it is not uncommon for a major country to station a military force in the territory of a small friend, construction work in Agalega has worried some islanders.
Many areas, including the island’s white-sand palm-fringed beaches, have already been cordoned off, island residents said. There are persistent rumors that the village of La Fourche will be swallowed up by the Indian infrastructure it grew up with, and that the 10 families who live there will be forced out.
“It will be a completely restricted area for Indians,” said Laval Soopramanien, president of the Association of Friends of Agalega.
He fears that “Agalega will become the story of the Chagos Islands” – a concern echoed by 26-year-old Billy Henri, who is the son of an Agalega and a woman who was expelled from the Chagos Islands.
“My mother [lost] His island,” said Mr. Henri. “My father will be next.”
A number of Agalega’s residents come from families who were hurt by the expulsion from the Chagos Islands, 2,000km to the east, after the UK government declared them British territory in 1965 and gave the US permission to build a communications station on the largest island, the Diego. Garcia. This gradually became a full-fledged military base.
Billy Henri fears that the Mauritian government, which owns all the land in Agalega and is the sole tenant, is trying to make the situation so dire that everyone will leave.
He points to health and education problems, low investment in the local economy, lack of job opportunities, and the prevention of local people from opening their own businesses.
A Mauritian government spokesman told the BBC that no one would be asked to leave, and that locals were only being barred from entering the airport and port – facilities he said would help the country control crime, drug-trafficking and illegal fishing.
Mauritius also opposes suggestions that Agalega should have a military base, saying the national police are still in full control. It does, however, agree that India will help in the “maintenance and operation” of the new facilities, built at Indian expense.
The governments of Mauritius and India said the development of sea and air transport was designed to benefit the islanders and help them rise out of poverty. But locals say this has not happened yet: there are still only four ferries to the main island of Mauritius every year, and no passenger planes.
The Agalegans said they were not allowed to enter the new hospital built in India, although the Mauritian government issued a press release praising its facilities, X-ray equipment and dental equipment.
Billy Henri says a boy suffering from cooking oil burns, who needed more help than he could get at a health center in the north of the island, was denied entry in October.
“Only for Indians!” you prune.
The injured boy and his parents were flown to the main island of Mauritius instead. Laval Soopramanien says the boy is in the hospital there, and the family will stay on the main island until the next boat goes to Agalega.
The government of Mauritius did not respond, when asked to comment on the tragedy of the burnt boy. The Indian government declined to comment.
In a recent speech in the parliament of Mauritius, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said that Agalega’s socio-economic development is higher than ever in his government’s plans.
A “good plan” has been developed to improve health and education, transport links and recreational facilities for the island’s residents, as well as to develop the fishing sector and the exploitation of coconut products, he said.
But the mistrust is fueled by the fact that neither India nor Mauritius publishes the details of the 2015 memorandum of understanding, so their future plans are unknown.
Source link
