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Agaléga

March 02, 2023

Agaléga (French: îles Agaléga) is a dependency of Mauritius which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 km (620 mi) North of Mauritius Island. Under the Constitution of Mauritius, Agaléga is a constituent island of the Republic of Mauritius. Although the island has been ceded to India on a basis that has not yet been revealed but appears to be military,[1][2][3] it still remains, as explicitly defined by the Constitution of Mauritius, part of the Sovereignty of Mauritius, together with the following islands “Rodrigues, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos (Saint Brandon), Chagos Archipelago (…) Diego Garcia and other islands included in the State of Mauritius”.[4]

Agaléga
Location of the Agalega Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Geography
LocationIndian Ocean
Coordinates10°25′S 56°35′E / 10.417°S 56.583°E / -10.417; 56.583Coordinates: 10°25′S 56°35′E / 10.417°S 56.583°E / -10.417; 56.583
Total islands2
Area24 km2 (9.3 sq mi)
Administration
DependencyAgaléga
Largest settlementVingt-Cinq
Demographics
Population289 (2011)
Pop. density12/km2 (31/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsCreole

Similarly to other Mauritian islands such as St. Brandon, Agaléga is run directly by the Prime Minister of Mauritius himself through the Prime Minister's Office to the Outer Island Development Corporation (OIDC).[5] The population of the islands in 2018 was 274[6] down from 289 in July 2011[7] amidst reports in the press that pregnant Agalegans are allegedly not allowed to give birth in Agalega, possibly to avoid another Chagos-type problem in the future given that there are more than 200[8] Indian builders on site. The islands have a total area of 2,600 ha (6,400 acres). The North island is 12.5 km (7.8 mi) long and 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide, while the South island is 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) wide. The North Island is home to the islands' airstrip and the capital Vingt-Cinq.[9] The islands are known for their production of coconuts which was their main industry and, also, for the Agalega day gecko.

A 2015 memorandum of understanding on India–Mauritius military cooperation envisaged developing the Agaléga islands for an Indian military base.[10][11][12][13] Local residents vocally opposed construction of the base as being a threat to local employment, self-determination, creole language (Agalega Creole), creole culture[14] and Mauritian sovereignty.[15][16]

Etymology

There are three different explanations for the name Agaléga.

  1. One hypothesis is that the Portuguese explorer, Dom Pedro Mascarenhas, named Agaléga and the island of Sainte Marie (off the east coast of Madagascar) in honour of his two sailboats, the "Galega" and the "Santa Maria" in 1512, when he discovered Mauritius and Réunion Island.
  2. Another, more probable explanation relates to the Galician explorer João da Nova, who discovered the islands in 1501 while working for the Portuguese. João was popularly known by his sailors as João Galego, according to Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès' Les Nouvelles Annales de Voyage (Volume 38, page 88). Galego is the Galician/Portuguese word for someone from Galicia, North West Spain, and "Agalega", is derived from the feminine version of this (a is the feminine article in Galician/Portuguese, and Galician illa for "island" is feminine, so a [ilha] galega would mean "the Galician [Island]"). or simply "from Galicia".
  3. A further, less likely, idea comes from a story in Sir Robert Scott's book Limuria: The Lesser Dependencies of Mauritius, where he describes the 1509 discovery of the Islands by the Portuguese mariner Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. According to this version, Diogo named the Islands Baixas da Gale, with the "da Gale" referring to putative gale-force winds hypothetically modelling the coasts of both islands. Scott suggests that maps of the region represented the islands initially as Gale, metamorphosing into Galera, Galega and finally Agalega.

A proxy evolution within the Portuguese system in the Indian Ocean points out "As Ilhas do Almirante Vasco da Gama" (in short, "Amirante Islands" where de L with Celtic pronunciation was dropped, or more broadly the Seychelles Archipelago), along with "As Ilhas do Almirante Pedro Mascarenhas" (nowadays referred as Mascarene Islands), as its original context, a combination which have not included Agalega Islands, in the middle of these two admiral-alike designations. Then again, "As Ilhas da Almirante Galega", a reference to Isabel Barreto, the first woman in the history of the navy who have reached the rank of admiral, was the novelty picked down when the problem solving of the islands nomination have been unleashed. Her life pathway matches the context of have been living along with two admirals, surely in two different marriages. So, the Archipelago of Agalega shares in the Indian Ocean geography a similar context. Thus, to supress an original lack of nomination and at the same time to avoid to step down from the admiral standard, of the two more nearby patrons, all together points in this direction. "A Galega", as an expression of the Portuguese rural world is applied to any person who have born northwards of the river Douro, Portuguese or from the Kingdom of Galicia, both with origin in the Roman Gallaecia.

History

 
Satellite image of Agalega North

As with the Mascarene islands, these islands may have been known to Arab and Malay sailors, although no written records have been found to confirm this. Agalega, or Galega, was examined by Captain Briggs of HMS Clorinde, on the 12th of January, 1811, who seems to have fixed its location accurately, which was previously not the case. The landing was found to be difficult on account of the heavy surf, the island being surrounded by a reef. A former French privateer was, at this time, settled on the island, having under him a colony of negroes (sic), who cultivated part of the land[17] with maize and wheat.

The first settlement on the islands was founded by M. de Rosemond. Upon his arrival in August 1808, he discovered the bodies of two castaways and a bottle containing notes written by one of them, the privateer Robert Dufour. The only hill on the islands, Montagne d'Emmerez, derives its name from the second shipwrecked sailor, a Mauritian called Adelaide d'Emmerez.

Economic, infrastructural and political development of the islands didn't begin until the arrival of Auguste Le Duc in 1827, a French administrator sent by M. Barbé to organise production of coconut oil and copra. There still exists a number of historical monuments dating from the period 1827 to 1846, made by slaves: the village Vingt-Cinq (named after the 25 lashes that were given to rebellious slaves), the Slave Dungeons, an Oil Mill, a cemetery for Blacks and a cemetery for Whites, among others. Auguste Le Duc also began construction of a bridge between the two islands, although it was swept away by severe weather.

Father Victor Malaval brought the Catholic Church to the islands in 1897 as the first missionary. An improvised chapel was built on the South Island.

The origin of its inhabitants was influenced by the political ructions in the world at the time. Mauritius became a British colony in 1810 and the abolition of the slave trade then the abolition of slavery in 1835 followed by the arrival of unskilled Asian labourers. The slaves themselves were of Malagasy origin or from Madras in India whilst some were freed from slave ships and others were from the slave trading ports of the Comoros Islands.

Legends such as "Calèche Blanc" and "Princesse Malgache" are part of the folklore of the islands, as well as the coded language of "Madam langaz Seret" which has come down from the time of slavery. This language is a mixture of French and Mauritian Creole where every syllable is doubled with the first consonants replaced by the "g" (e.g. "Français" becomes "frangrançaisgais"). The origin, purpose and reasons for the evolution of this specific language remains unclear.

Today, the population consists of around 300 people, known locally as Agaléens ("Agalegans"), who speak Creole. Catholicism is the dominant religion. It is reported that more than 10,000 Agalegans today live in Mauritius itself.

Geography

North Island is 12.5 kilometres (7.8 miles) long and 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) wide while South Island is 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) long and 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) wide. The total area of both islands is 26 square kilometres (10 square miles). The soil is likely coral. The culmination is at the top of the hill Emmer on the island in the north. The climate is hot and humid and the average annual temperature is 26 °C (79 °F), ranging from a minimum of 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) and a maximum of 30.6 °C (87.1 °F). April is the hottest month of the year. The tropical climate is conducive to the development of mangrove and coconut trees that cover the two islets.

Economy

Agaléga is managed by a company of the State of Mauritius, the Outer Island Development Company (OIDC),[18][citation needed] a company which develops remote islands. The company delegates a resident manager, a kind of steward, who is the supreme authority on the two islets. The economy of the archipelago is based primarily on the exportation of coconut oil.

Loss of sovereignty

Sovereignty is linked to the notion of nationhood,[19] independence,[20] territorial borders,[21] internal decision-taking,[22] national pride[23] and patriotism. It is also intimately linked and derived, in this case, from the Constitution of Mauritius which lists Agalega as being a constituent part of the sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius. In the absence of any freedom of information (FOIA) laws in Mauritius,[24] it is difficult to factually confirm but the construction[25] of an Indian military base[26] in Agalega for the Indian Navy and for military aircraft of the Indian Air Force appears to have been completed and is a fait accompli. CSIS in May 2022 released images of aeroplane hangars on Agaléga for India's P-8I Poseidon aircraft which were nearing completion in November 2022.[27]

The extent of the loss of sovereignty[28] with the Indian "occupation"[29] of Agalega with regard to the nationhood of Mauritius (running down[30] the population of creoles[31] on the island by not allowing births[32] is drawing parallels with the British Colonials in the Chagos Archipelago), its independence (with regard to Mauritius' inability hence to avoid being drawn into a global nuclear war and becoming an unwilling nuclear holocaust victim) is difficult to assess given the secrecy[33] of the military[34] agreement with India but this has affected national pride[35] and the patriotism of Mauritian citizens as perceiving this militarisation[36] of Agalega as being modern day Indian neo-colonialism.[37]

In the same year that Mauritius signed its agreement with India, in 2015, India also signed a military agreement with Seychelles in respect of Assumption Island. The Seychelles military agreement (with a same length runway) had clauses about whether or not Indian troops would fall under Seychellois or Indian military law. It was Indian military law.[38]

Cost of detachment of Agalega from Mauritius

The cost to the people from Agalega of being detached from their island so that India's military outpost can be installed has not yet been revealed. In Chagos' case, the financial "costs in 1965 were estimated at £10 million" (approximately £250 million today) excluding the United States' "secret contribution to the BIOT enterprise via waiving costs associated with Britain's nuclear weapons acquisitions, the financial costs for Britain to create BIOT was high. Acquiring Agaléga would have increased Britain's financial burden, at a time when it was winding down its vast empire and reigning in its defense spending."[39] This off-the-balance-sheet US nuclear help will almost certainly have doubled the initial cost to around £500 million in today's money. Mauritius does not produce nor hold nuclear weapons and the monetary quid pro quo relating to major infrastructural projects in Mauritius has also not been revealed. By way of example, "India has agreed to grant a Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 200 million to Mauritius as regards the Light Rail Transit project. An additional amount to the tune of USD 450 million from EXIM Bank of India at a very low interest rate will also be granted.""Mauritius: India Grants Mauritius LOC U.S.$200 Million for Light Rail Transit Project". Retrieved 7 February 2023.</ref>

Infrastructure

Most homes are in the main villages of Vingt-Cinq and La Fourche on the North Island, and St. Rita on the South Island. The road connecting the different localities is sandy and coral. The North Island is home to an airstrip, a government primary school "Jacques Le Chartier", the police station, the weather station, the central telecommunications office (Mauritius Telecom) and the health service. There is no running water on the island. Drinking water comes from rainwater collected by gutters. Water for other uses is sourced from wells. Electricity is supplied by generators running on diesel, with supply limited to certain hours. The company that manages the remote islands, such as Agaléga and St Brandon, is working on a project to ensure power supply to these islands, via submarine connection.[citation needed]

Agaléga is connected to Mauritius by air and sea. The civilian airstrip on the island in the north allows takeoff and landing of small aircraft. There is now a new 10,000 foot long modern airstrip suitable for jet aircraft.[40] There is no functional port on the islands, only a pier at St James Anchorage on the island's north. Vessels of the Mauritius Shipping Corporation (the Pride Mauritius and the Mauritius Trochetia) cast anchor about 500 metres (1,600 feet) from this place, in the deep sea, during refueling.[citation needed]

Health services are provided by a health officer and a midwife. Doctors from Mauritius make short tours throughout the year. The Agaléens also receive a visit from a magistrate during the year.[citation needed]

For education, there is a primary school for the young, but pupils then continue their education in secondary schools on the island of Mauritius.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Bashfield, Samuel. "Why is India building a military base on Agaléga island?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  2. ^ "Agalega: A glimpse of India's remote island military base". www.lowyinstitute.org. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  3. ^ Auzine, Najaah. "[L.E]AGALEGA : MILITARY BASE FOR INDIA? | Sunday Times". Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  4. ^ "The Constitution of Mauritius" (PDF). p. 63.
  5. ^ "Outer Islands Development Corporation". Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  6. ^ Walter, Karen (2019-04-22). "Population en hausse: les Indiens ont pris le contrôle à Agalega". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  7. ^ . Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  8. ^ Walter, Karen (2019-02-04). "Population en hausse: une catastrophe écologique guette Agalega". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  9. ^ . Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Republic of Mauritius- Development of Agalega – No Lease Agreement contained in MOU signed with India, says Minister Koonjoo". www.govmu.org. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  11. ^ "India to develop strategic assets in 2 Mauritius, Seychelles islands.", Indian Express, 12 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Naval muscle should fetch economic returns.", The Tribune, 20 March 2015.
  13. ^ "India: Building a Sphere of Influence in the Indian Ocean? - RealClearDefense".
  14. ^ "French Creoles | Creole Experience". www.frenchcreoles.com. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  15. ^ "Agaléga islanders fear for future due to secret Indian navy base". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  16. ^ Greene, Andrew. "India building secretive base in Mauritius as it strengthens military ties with Australia". ABC News. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  17. ^ India Directory 1826[full citation needed]
  18. ^ The Outer Islands Development Corporation (OIDC) Act No. 41 of 1982
  19. ^ Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (1994). "Nationalism, Mauritian Style: Cultural Unity and Ethnic Diversity". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 36 (3): 549–574. doi:10.1017/S001041750001923X. ISSN 0010-4175. JSTOR 179296. S2CID 144215121.
  20. ^ Houbert, Jean (1981). "Mauritius: Independence and Dependence". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 19 (1): 75–105. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00054136. ISSN 0022-278X. JSTOR 160607. S2CID 154753371.
  21. ^ Whelan, Anthony (1992). "Self-Determination and Decolonisation: Foundations for the Future". Irish Studies in International Affairs. 3 (4): 25–51. ISSN 0332-1460. JSTOR 30001796.
  22. ^ Jazeera, Al. "Agaléga, a secret base, and India's claim to power". interactive.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  23. ^ Khan, Iqbal Ahmed (2022-07-31). "New Delhi's strategic calculus over Agalega". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  24. ^ "A Long-Awaited Freedom of Information Act for Mauritius. But When?". fesmedia-africa.fes.de. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  25. ^ "Agalega: India's remote island military base in the Indian Ocean". www.constructionworld.in. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  26. ^ Chenney, Axcel (2018-03-03). "Bharat Karnad: "L'objectif de l'Inde: s'approprier l'océan Indien"". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  27. ^ "Agaléga's Strategic Value: in the Eye of the Beholder". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  28. ^ "News". www.lalitmauritius.org. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  29. ^ "India's Unstrategic Sail in Agalega Island". Qrius. 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2023-02-03. Wouldn't it be better for India to pre-empt such inevitable Chinese moves by confronting them with the fait accompli of a rapidly built-up and fully functional Indian naval and air bases on the Agalegas, Indian military units on the ground, including army and marine commandos on rotational short-term stints, and transfer of armaments, than trying painfully to recover lost ground (as happened in Sri Lanka, Myanmar)? If India did that, Mauritius will finally feel safe, considering it is all but unarmed. (An ancient rust bucket—a small corvette type vessel is seen anchored forlornly off the touristy stretch of Le Caudan, which, apparently, is about all the protection Mauritius can summon for itself.)
  30. ^ Unit, Yarno Ritzen,Al Jazeera Investigative. "Agaléga islanders fear for future due to secret Indian navy base". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-03. The people on Agaléga point at what they say are efforts to make life on the island harder, such as making it mandatory for pregnant women to give birth of Mauritius, preventing cement from being brought to the island and the fact that they are currently not allowed to bring cattle to the island.
  31. ^ BAKER, Philip; KRIEGE, SIBYLLE. "Mauritian Creole" (PDF).
  32. ^ "AGALEGA: The Cry of My People to the Maritime Republic of Mauritius". Le Mauricien (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03. The depopulation and indirect displacement of the people are the most critical ones. Whilst some 15,000 Agaleans are estimated to reside in Mauritius only 200 inhabitants continue to live in Agalega. Pregnant women are forced to have delivery in Mauritius and the child is declared 'Mauritian' and not Agalean on the birth certificate. Why ? Will the government of Mauritius hear the cry of my people and be sensitive to its affliction ?
  33. ^ Jazeera, Al. "Agaléga, a secret base, and India's claim to power". interactive.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  34. ^ Rédaction, La (2017-06-16). "Présence militaire à Agalega: la réponse évasive de Pravind Jugnauth". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  35. ^ Agalega: India's Military Base In Mauritius | Current Affairs 2021 | World Affairs | Current Capsule, retrieved 2023-02-03
  36. ^ "India building island base in Mauritius as it strengthens military ties with Australia". ABC News. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  37. ^ "Agalega: A glimpse of India's remote island military base". www.lowyinstitute.org. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  38. ^ Khan, Iqbal Ahmed (2022-07-31). "New Delhi's strategic calculus over Agalega". lexpress.mu (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  39. ^ "Agaléga's Strategic Value: in the Eye of the Beholder". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  40. ^ New Indian Express:Aug 3rd, 2021: India believed to be building naval facility on Mauritian island of Agalega

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agalega Islands.
  • Government of Mauritius - Agalega

March 02, 2023
agaléga, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, february, 2017, le. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Agalega news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Agalega French iles Agalega is a dependency of Mauritius which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean about 1 000 km 620 mi North of Mauritius Island Under the Constitution of Mauritius Agalega is a constituent island of the Republic of Mauritius Although the island has been ceded to India on a basis that has not yet been revealed but appears to be military 1 2 3 it still remains as explicitly defined by the Constitution of Mauritius part of the Sovereignty of Mauritius together with the following islands Rodrigues Tromelin Cargados Carajos Saint Brandon Chagos Archipelago Diego Garcia and other islands included in the State of Mauritius 4 AgalegaLocation of the Agalega Islands in the Indian Ocean GeographyLocationIndian OceanCoordinates10 25 S 56 35 E 10 417 S 56 583 E 10 417 56 583 Coordinates 10 25 S 56 35 E 10 417 S 56 583 E 10 417 56 583Total islands2Area24 km2 9 3 sq mi Administration MauritiusDependencyAgalegaLargest settlementVingt CinqDemographicsPopulation289 2011 Pop density12 km2 31 sq mi Ethnic groupsCreoleSimilarly to other Mauritian islands such as St Brandon Agalega is run directly by the Prime Minister of Mauritius himself through the Prime Minister s Office to the Outer Island Development Corporation OIDC 5 The population of the islands in 2018 was 274 6 down from 289 in July 2011 7 amidst reports in the press that pregnant Agalegans are allegedly not allowed to give birth in Agalega possibly to avoid another Chagos type problem in the future given that there are more than 200 8 Indian builders on site The islands have a total area of 2 600 ha 6 400 acres The North island is 12 5 km 7 8 mi long and 1 5 km 0 9 mi wide while the South island is 7 km 4 3 mi long and 4 5 km 2 8 mi wide The North Island is home to the islands airstrip and the capital Vingt Cinq 9 The islands are known for their production of coconuts which was their main industry and also for the Agalega day gecko A 2015 memorandum of understanding on India Mauritius military cooperation envisaged developing the Agalega islands for an Indian military base 10 11 12 13 Local residents vocally opposed construction of the base as being a threat to local employment self determination creole language Agalega Creole creole culture 14 and Mauritian sovereignty 15 16 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Loss of sovereignty 6 Cost of detachment of Agalega from Mauritius 7 Infrastructure 8 References 9 External linksEtymologyThere are three different explanations for the name Agalega One hypothesis is that the Portuguese explorer Dom Pedro Mascarenhas named Agalega and the island of Sainte Marie off the east coast of Madagascar in honour of his two sailboats the Galega and the Santa Maria in 1512 when he discovered Mauritius and Reunion Island Another more probable explanation relates to the Galician explorer Joao da Nova who discovered the islands in 1501 while working for the Portuguese Joao was popularly known by his sailors as Joao Galego according to Jean Baptiste Benoit Eyries Les Nouvelles Annales de Voyage Volume 38 page 88 Galego is the Galician Portuguese word for someone from Galicia North West Spain and Agalega is derived from the feminine version of this a is the feminine article in Galician Portuguese and Galician illa for island is feminine so a ilha galega would mean the Galician Island or simply from Galicia A further less likely idea comes from a story in Sir Robert Scott s book Limuria The Lesser Dependencies of Mauritius where he describes the 1509 discovery of the Islands by the Portuguese mariner Diogo Lopes de Sequeira According to this version Diogo named the Islands Baixas da Gale with the da Gale referring to putative gale force winds hypothetically modelling the coasts of both islands Scott suggests that maps of the region represented the islands initially as Gale metamorphosing into Galera Galega and finally Agalega A proxy evolution within the Portuguese system in the Indian Ocean points out As Ilhas do Almirante Vasco da Gama in short Amirante Islands where de L with Celtic pronunciation was dropped or more broadly the Seychelles Archipelago along with As Ilhas do Almirante Pedro Mascarenhas nowadays referred as Mascarene Islands as its original context a combination which have not included Agalega Islands in the middle of these two admiral alike designations Then again As Ilhas da Almirante Galega a reference to Isabel Barreto the first woman in the history of the navy who have reached the rank of admiral was the novelty picked down when the problem solving of the islands nomination have been unleashed Her life pathway matches the context of have been living along with two admirals surely in two different marriages So the Archipelago of Agalega shares in the Indian Ocean geography a similar context Thus to supress an original lack of nomination and at the same time to avoid to step down from the admiral standard of the two more nearby patrons all together points in this direction A Galega as an expression of the Portuguese rural world is applied to any person who have born northwards of the river Douro Portuguese or from the Kingdom of Galicia both with origin in the Roman Gallaecia History Satellite image of Agalega North As with the Mascarene islands these islands may have been known to Arab and Malay sailors although no written records have been found to confirm this Agalega or Galega was examined by Captain Briggs of HMS Clorinde on the 12th of January 1811 who seems to have fixed its location accurately which was previously not the case The landing was found to be difficult on account of the heavy surf the island being surrounded by a reef A former French privateer was at this time settled on the island having under him a colony of negroes sic who cultivated part of the land 17 with maize and wheat The first settlement on the islands was founded by M de Rosemond Upon his arrival in August 1808 he discovered the bodies of two castaways and a bottle containing notes written by one of them the privateer Robert Dufour The only hill on the islands Montagne d Emmerez derives its name from the second shipwrecked sailor a Mauritian called Adelaide d Emmerez Economic infrastructural and political development of the islands didn t begin until the arrival of Auguste Le Duc in 1827 a French administrator sent by M Barbe to organise production of coconut oil and copra There still exists a number of historical monuments dating from the period 1827 to 1846 made by slaves the village Vingt Cinq named after the 25 lashes that were given to rebellious slaves the Slave Dungeons an Oil Mill a cemetery for Blacks and a cemetery for Whites among others Auguste Le Duc also began construction of a bridge between the two islands although it was swept away by severe weather Father Victor Malaval brought the Catholic Church to the islands in 1897 as the first missionary An improvised chapel was built on the South Island The origin of its inhabitants was influenced by the political ructions in the world at the time Mauritius became a British colony in 1810 and the abolition of the slave trade then the abolition of slavery in 1835 followed by the arrival of unskilled Asian labourers The slaves themselves were of Malagasy origin or from Madras in India whilst some were freed from slave ships and others were from the slave trading ports of the Comoros Islands Legends such as Caleche Blanc and Princesse Malgache are part of the folklore of the islands as well as the coded language of Madam langaz Seret which has come down from the time of slavery This language is a mixture of French and Mauritian Creole where every syllable is doubled with the first consonants replaced by the g e g Francais becomes frangrancaisgais The origin purpose and reasons for the evolution of this specific language remains unclear Today the population consists of around 300 people known locally as Agaleens Agalegans who speak Creole Catholicism is the dominant religion It is reported that more than 10 000 Agalegans today live in Mauritius itself GeographyNorth Island is 12 5 kilometres 7 8 miles long and 1 5 kilometres 0 9 miles wide while South Island is 7 kilometres 4 3 miles long and 4 5 kilometres 2 8 miles wide The total area of both islands is 26 square kilometres 10 square miles The soil is likely coral The culmination is at the top of the hill Emmer on the island in the north The climate is hot and humid and the average annual temperature is 26 C 79 F ranging from a minimum of 22 5 C 72 5 F and a maximum of 30 6 C 87 1 F April is the hottest month of the year The tropical climate is conducive to the development of mangrove and coconut trees that cover the two islets EconomyAgalega is managed by a company of the State of Mauritius the Outer Island Development Company OIDC 18 citation needed a company which develops remote islands The company delegates a resident manager a kind of steward who is the supreme authority on the two islets The economy of the archipelago is based primarily on the exportation of coconut oil Loss of sovereigntySovereignty is linked to the notion of nationhood 19 independence 20 territorial borders 21 internal decision taking 22 national pride 23 and patriotism It is also intimately linked and derived in this case from the Constitution of Mauritius which lists Agalega as being a constituent part of the sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius In the absence of any freedom of information FOIA laws in Mauritius 24 it is difficult to factually confirm but the construction 25 of an Indian military base 26 in Agalega for the Indian Navy and for military aircraft of the Indian Air Force appears to have been completed and is a fait accompli CSIS in May 2022 released images of aeroplane hangars on Agalega for India s P 8I Poseidon aircraft which were nearing completion in November 2022 27 The extent of the loss of sovereignty 28 with the Indian occupation 29 of Agalega with regard to the nationhood of Mauritius running down 30 the population of creoles 31 on the island by not allowing births 32 is drawing parallels with the British Colonials in the Chagos Archipelago its independence with regard to Mauritius inability hence to avoid being drawn into a global nuclear war and becoming an unwilling nuclear holocaust victim is difficult to assess given the secrecy 33 of the military 34 agreement with India but this has affected national pride 35 and the patriotism of Mauritian citizens as perceiving this militarisation 36 of Agalega as being modern day Indian neo colonialism 37 In the same year that Mauritius signed its agreement with India in 2015 India also signed a military agreement with Seychelles in respect of Assumption Island The Seychelles military agreement with a same length runway had clauses about whether or not Indian troops would fall under Seychellois or Indian military law It was Indian military law 38 Cost of detachment of Agalega from MauritiusThe cost to the people from Agalega of being detached from their island so that India s military outpost can be installed has not yet been revealed In Chagos case the financial costs in 1965 were estimated at 10 million approximately 250 million today excluding the United States secret contribution to the BIOT enterprise via waiving costs associated with Britain s nuclear weapons acquisitions the financial costs for Britain to create BIOT was high Acquiring Agalega would have increased Britain s financial burden at a time when it was winding down its vast empire and reigning in its defense spending 39 This off the balance sheet US nuclear help will almost certainly have doubled the initial cost to around 500 million in today s money Mauritius does not produce nor hold nuclear weapons and the monetary quid pro quo relating to major infrastructural projects in Mauritius has also not been revealed By way of example India has agreed to grant a Line of Credit LOC of USD 200 million to Mauritius as regards the Light Rail Transit project An additional amount to the tune of USD 450 million from EXIM Bank of India at a very low interest rate will also be granted Mauritius India Grants Mauritius LOC U S 200 Million for Light Rail Transit Project Retrieved 7 February 2023 lt ref gt InfrastructureMost homes are in the main villages of Vingt Cinq and La Fourche on the North Island and St Rita on the South Island The road connecting the different localities is sandy and coral The North Island is home to an airstrip a government primary school Jacques Le Chartier the police station the weather station the central telecommunications office Mauritius Telecom and the health service There is no running water on the island Drinking water comes from rainwater collected by gutters Water for other uses is sourced from wells Electricity is supplied by generators running on diesel with supply limited to certain hours The company that manages the remote islands such as Agalega and St Brandon is working on a project to ensure power supply to these islands via submarine connection citation needed Agalega is connected to Mauritius by air and sea The civilian airstrip on the island in the north allows takeoff and landing of small aircraft There is now a new 10 000 foot long modern airstrip suitable for jet aircraft 40 There is no functional port on the islands only a pier at St James Anchorage on the island s north Vessels of the Mauritius Shipping Corporation the Pride Mauritius and the Mauritius Trochetia cast anchor about 500 metres 1 600 feet from this place in the deep sea during refueling citation needed Health services are provided by a health officer and a midwife Doctors from Mauritius make short tours throughout the year The Agaleens also receive a visit from a magistrate during the year citation needed For education there is a primary school for the young but pupils then continue their education in secondary schools on the island of Mauritius citation needed References Bashfield Samuel Why is India building a military base on Agalega island www aljazeera com Retrieved 2023 02 01 Agalega A glimpse of India s remote island military base www lowyinstitute org Retrieved 2023 02 01 Auzine Najaah L E AGALEGA MILITARY BASE FOR INDIA Sunday Times Retrieved 2023 02 01 The Constitution of Mauritius PDF p 63 Outer Islands Development Corporation Retrieved 2023 02 03 Walter Karen 2019 04 22 Population en hausse les Indiens ont pris le controle a Agalega lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 Geography location Government of Mauritius Archived from the original on 2012 11 14 Retrieved 25 July 2012 Walter Karen 2019 02 04 Population en hausse une catastrophe ecologique guette Agalega lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 About Agalega Government of Mauritius Archived from the original on 2012 09 19 Retrieved 25 July 2012 Republic of Mauritius Development of Agalega No Lease Agreement contained in MOU signed with India says Minister Koonjoo www govmu org Retrieved 2021 05 19 India to develop strategic assets in 2 Mauritius Seychelles islands Indian Express 12 March 2015 Naval muscle should fetch economic returns The Tribune 20 March 2015 India Building a Sphere of Influence in the Indian Ocean RealClearDefense French Creoles Creole Experience www frenchcreoles com Retrieved 2023 02 03 Agalega islanders fear for future due to secret Indian navy base Al Jazeera Retrieved 4 August 2021 Greene Andrew India building secretive base in Mauritius as it strengthens military ties with Australia ABC News Retrieved 4 August 2021 India Directory 1826 full citation needed The Outer Islands Development Corporation OIDC Act No 41 of 1982 Eriksen Thomas Hylland 1994 Nationalism Mauritian Style Cultural Unity and Ethnic Diversity Comparative Studies in Society and History 36 3 549 574 doi 10 1017 S001041750001923X ISSN 0010 4175 JSTOR 179296 S2CID 144215121 Houbert Jean 1981 Mauritius Independence and Dependence The Journal of Modern African Studies 19 1 75 105 doi 10 1017 S0022278X00054136 ISSN 0022 278X JSTOR 160607 S2CID 154753371 Whelan Anthony 1992 Self Determination and Decolonisation Foundations for the Future Irish Studies in International Affairs 3 4 25 51 ISSN 0332 1460 JSTOR 30001796 Jazeera Al Agalega a secret base and India s claim to power interactive aljazeera com Retrieved 2023 02 03 Khan Iqbal Ahmed 2022 07 31 New Delhi s strategic calculus over Agalega lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 A Long Awaited Freedom of Information Act for Mauritius But When fesmedia africa fes de Retrieved 2023 02 03 Agalega India s remote island military base in the Indian Ocean www constructionworld in Retrieved 2023 02 03 Chenney Axcel 2018 03 03 Bharat Karnad L objectif de l Inde s approprier l ocean Indien lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 Agalega s Strategic Value in the Eye of the Beholder Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative 2022 11 29 Retrieved 2023 02 03 News www lalitmauritius org Retrieved 2023 02 03 India s Unstrategic Sail in Agalega Island Qrius 2016 08 14 Retrieved 2023 02 03 Wouldn t it be better for India to pre empt such inevitable Chinese moves by confronting them with the fait accompli of a rapidly built up and fully functional Indian naval and air bases on the Agalegas Indian military units on the ground including army and marine commandos on rotational short term stints and transfer of armaments than trying painfully to recover lost ground as happened in Sri Lanka Myanmar If India did that Mauritius will finally feel safe considering it is all but unarmed An ancient rust bucket a small corvette type vessel is seen anchored forlornly off the touristy stretch of Le Caudan which apparently is about all the protection Mauritius can summon for itself Unit Yarno Ritzen Al Jazeera Investigative Agalega islanders fear for future due to secret Indian navy base www aljazeera com Retrieved 2023 02 03 The people on Agalega point at what they say are efforts to make life on the island harder such as making it mandatory for pregnant women to give birth of Mauritius preventing cement from being brought to the island and the fact that they are currently not allowed to bring cattle to the island BAKER Philip KRIEGE SIBYLLE Mauritian Creole PDF AGALEGA The Cry of My People to the Maritime Republic of Mauritius Le Mauricien in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 The depopulation and indirect displacement of the people are the most critical ones Whilst some 15 000 Agaleans are estimated to reside in Mauritius only 200 inhabitants continue to live in Agalega Pregnant women are forced to have delivery in Mauritius and the child is declared Mauritian and not Agalean on the birth certificate Why Will the government of Mauritius hear the cry of my people and be sensitive to its affliction Jazeera Al Agalega a secret base and India s claim to power interactive aljazeera com Retrieved 2023 02 03 Redaction La 2017 06 16 Presence militaire a Agalega la reponse evasive de Pravind Jugnauth lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 03 Agalega India s Military Base In Mauritius Current Affairs 2021 World Affairs Current Capsule retrieved 2023 02 03 India building island base in Mauritius as it strengthens military ties with Australia ABC News 2021 08 04 Retrieved 2023 02 03 Agalega A glimpse of India s remote island military base www lowyinstitute org Retrieved 2023 02 03 Khan Iqbal Ahmed 2022 07 31 New Delhi s strategic calculus over Agalega lexpress mu in French Retrieved 2023 02 06 Agalega s Strategic Value in the Eye of the Beholder Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative 2022 11 29 Retrieved 2023 02 07 New Indian Express Aug 3rd 2021 India believed to be building naval facility on Mauritian island of AgalegaExternal links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agalega Islands Government of Mauritius Agalega Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Agalega amp oldid 1142372052, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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