Repossessing the Archipelago- Narratives of Exile and Longing of the Chagos Refugees in the Indian Ocean

Objectives and Scope

Cover the refugees’ personal narratives and how the subjects place their stories with respect to the global issue of forced immigration.

Objectives
- Expounding the refugees’ emotionality, mental health needs and the trauma of being uprooted from their homeland.
- Understanding the impact of colonial vestiges to formulate a framework in shaping trajectories for mechanisms of inclusion.

Methods, procedure, process, approach
Qualitative approach, narrative analysis, semi-structured interviews and personal accounts of Chagossian refugees living in Mauritius who were forcefully fled from their archipelago in a joint clandestine operation by UK and US in 1968. Three Chagossian refugees exiled in Mauritius have been part of this research and using a multi-disciplinary approach, this paper customed to a psycho-socio-emotional perspective vital to study the refugee’s life in terms of the needs to belong to a homeland and the emotionality arising from herein.

Results and observations
With respect to the framework of action to be taken to ensure inclusion and a return to the Archipelago, “Pathologising the trauma story of refugee people” (Hutchinson & Dorsett, 2012), the paper demonstrates the enormous strength and resilience of the displaced Chagos islanders.
Results from the narratives and historical accounts speak of:
1. Severe trauma, personal and emotional harm through losing of new-borns due to stress while being forcefully uprooted.
2. Longing to return and receive justice and restore integrity and cultural identity
3. Only receiving human rights can help one to stop feeling dehumanised

Observations
Vivid recollections, reliving the trauma every day, tearing up, anger, demonstrating needs of belongingness for one’s birth land.

Conclusions
Aspects of dehumanisation from the denial of rights, severe trauma, longing for home, dysfunction, dearth of well-being being evident
Highlighting the refugee’s account of their lives remains crucial for understanding present day oppression.

Future implications and limitations
Implications – By the end of the year 2017, 68.5 million forcefully displaced people worldwide have been noted (UNHCR/ 19 June 2018), therefore deliverance of justice and human rights to be done justly for we are witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record.

Limitations - The paper lacks in cognising the psychopathology of the refugee, an under looked aspect of mental health in terms of a diagnostic approach. There is also a limitation in shaping the dissemination of results to be influential enough to impact and eradicate global political injustice.