When Cedric Joseph, the goalkeeper of the Chagos Archipelago national team, roams West Sussex’s hometown of Crawley, he often wears soccer uniforms, whether on match day or not.
“I’m wearing a shirt without training. I’m proud,” he says.
“Then people ask me questions. Some people don’t know anything about the place. I know history so I can talk to them.
“I tell them it’s an island paradise, a paradise on earth.”
19-year-old Joseph has never set foot on the land he represents.
Growing up in Mauritius, he asked his grandmother to talk about his hometown, but she often evaded questions.
Joseph’s grandmother was born in the Chagos Archipelago of the Indian Ocean Islands. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Britain expelled the entire population and gave way to a military airfield co-operated with the United States.
Many of the exiled Chagosians were sent to Mauritius, where Joseph was born. However, his grandmother’s heart remained in her homeland and endured the pain of her eviction by the British.
It’s a story about a soccer team trying to keep the story of their ancestors alive, representing a lost home about 6,000 miles away.
The first Chagos Archipelago team was founded in Crawley about 20 years ago. Crawley is home to the majority of the 3,000 Chagosians in the United Kingdom. The team has joined the NF-Board, an international organization for domestic soccer teams who cannot participate in FIFA.
For some time, the Chagos Archipelago FC joined local leagues and occasionally formed friendly relations with Raetia (a state of the Roman Empire in Central Europe) and Sealand (an unrecognized micronation claiming an offshore platform off Suffolk). rice field. ). However, there were consistent financial problems that eventually collapsed.
Then in 2013, Chagos Football Association Formed by Sabrina Gene.
Jean’s father grew up on the atoll of Peros Banhos. At the age of 17, he set out for Mauritius, but he always planned to go home. He didn’t have a chance. Jean grew up in Mauritius and he moved to Crawley in 2006.she is Chagos Refugee Group Soon after the UK branch.
Her father, like Joseph’s grandmother, generally avoided talking about his childhood when Jean was growing up.
“They were traumatized and tried to avoid explanations,” says Joseph, who emigrated to the UK in 2016.
“I saw it with my grandmother. I just wanted to know what happened when she said she was weeping me.”
Britain insisted on maintaining sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago when it granted Mauritius independence in 1968. Later, the local population (most numbers vary between 1,600 and 2,000) was removed and sent to Seychelles, Mauritius, or the United Kingdom. Many have fallen into extreme poverty and faced discrimination.
Mauritius states that he was forced to abandon the island in 1965 in exchange for independence and has since claimed the Chagos Archipelago as Mauritius’ territory.The United Nations Supreme Court has unanimous but non-binding rulings in the United Kingdom Occupation of the island is illegal, However, Britain refused to give control to Mauritius. The island will be returned when it is no longer needed for defense purposes.
Jean visited the Chagos Archipelago in 2011 as part of a trip organized by the British government. It was a bittersweet moment.
“When I first set foot on the island, you can feel it even if you weren’t born on the island,” she says. “You feel sad about you.”
“When I was on the island of Peros Banhos, where my father was born, it was painful to see all the buildings. Your godfather says:’When I arrive on my island, the church I was baptized, the communion, takes place. It was … but it’s very painful because there is nothing left. “
Jean says one of the hardest moments was to visit the graveyard where her ancestors were buried.
“It’s devastating, no one takes care of it,” she says.
“But when you are [the island of] Diego Garcia, you see a dog graveyard owned by the people of the US Navy. They are buried in a grave under the name of a dog. ”
Jean wanted the football team to be a way for the Chagosian community to express their identity. In the first place, she says it was hard to get enough players to participate in the training, but as the language began to spread in the community, the team soon started playing more regularly.
In 2014 they drew 1-1 to Somaliland and the following year they lost 4-1 to Punjab. Hundreds of Chagossian communities have come across home games at Crawley.
Then came the team’s biggest moment in 2016-in Conifer World Cup Abkhazia (a de facto state that most countries recognize as part of Georgia).
Confia (Confederation of Independent Football Associations) is a comprehensive association for states, minorities, stateless people, and regions unrelated to FIFA, including the Isle of Man, Kurdistan, and Northern Cyprus teams.
The Chagos Archipelago lost all four games, including a major defeat by Abkhazia and Western Armenia. 26-year-old Ivanov Leonce, who plays full-back, says the tournament is still successful.
“They knew about us because many people didn’t know us as Chagosians when we went to Abkhazia,” he says.
“We want to show what we have experienced, what our families have experienced, and where we are from. One of the ways we need to show our identity is football.
“The people there, how they treated us, it was like a real World Cup, but from an unrecognized country. It was my best memory.”
However, despite my memory, the team’s results did not improve. In 2018, the Chagos Archipelago lost to Yorkshire, Barawa (a team representing Somalia Diaspora in England), Matabeleland (a part of Zimbabwe) and Tubal. The following year began with a victory over Sally, followed by defeats by Cascadia (US and Canada), Jersey and Cornwall.
Then, in 2019, Jimmy Feller, who was instructing a local semi-professional club, became the manager. At first, some of the community were wary of his intentions.
“When I came to Chagos, obviously I was white, I was in English, and there were a lot of people thinking,’What is he looking for?'” Feller says.
“I think there was suspicion. The Chagosian community is very close. I said I would leave the football association more than I found, with better setup and better infrastructure. This is one of the promises I made to Sabrina and all the players. “
The results have begun to improve. Last year was arguably the team’s greatest achievement. He won the World Series of the World Unity Football Alliance and defeated Baraawe with a penalty in the final.
“Everywhere I go, it’s always a little party atmosphere. There are always instruments, drums, songs and dances, but it’s an unforgettable weekend,” says Feller.
“I remember when the whistle made the final penalty thought.
Despite recent success, there are persistent problems. Some players were taken away for cross-examination by the Immigration Bureau.
“I had to take the boy to the holding center at Gatwick Airport and raise thousands of pounds to hire a lawyer, but he was released a few days later,” says Feller.
“It’s a never-ending battle.”
In 2002, the British Overseas Territories Act granted British citizenship to resettled Chagosians born between 1969 and 1982. Many in Mauritius faced difficulties and had the opportunity to move to the UK in the hope of a better life. Direct descendants of Chagosians who were born on the island and are not yet British Overseas Territories or British citizens can apply for both forms of British citizenship. Home office recently announced.
Damian Ramsami came to England in 2006 from Mauritius at the age of 13. His grandfather was expelled from the Chagos Archipelago, but he didn’t even know he was a Chagosian until he was a teenager. After years of playing for a semi-professional team around London, Ferrer was finally able to convince him to join the Chagos Archipelago FC.
Ramsami passionately talks about how he feels the Chagosian community has been disappointed by the British government. He believes that they are still treated like second-class citizens and that many are struggling to achieve their goals. He believes Britain should provide compensation or housing to the descendants of those displaced from the island.
“We are not in the same place as the other British citizens here,” he says. “We didn’t choose this to happen. Maybe if we returned to the Chagos Archipelago we would have had some land, nothing here. They are us. I’m just waiting for it to disappear.
“My grandfather died. He was 82 years old and my grandmother died. How many indigenous people died without receiving compensation? I am 30 years old and haven’t seen anything but a British passport. Hmm. Compensation that we might have been in Mauritius and lived the same way.
“My son is now 2 years old. By the time he’s 15 or 16, he doesn’t remember this. Looking with my brother, they know nothing about Chagos. Generations As you progress, you will be like us. Fading.
“The soccer team is important to maintain that momentum. Don’t decline.”
Some in the Chagosian community dream of being able to return to the island someday, while others want to stay in the UK.
Joseph says he will move to his ancestor’s house if he has the opportunity.
“I go there happily,” he says. “When I listen to my grandmother, there is no stress and nothing. Everyone was a big community, a big family.”
But until that time, he is pleased to represent the Chagos Archipelago during the goal post.
“I have a goalkeeper’s glove with a flag, and every time I play I find it great to wear it,” he says.
“Do you know how proud I am?”
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
