Hello and welcome to this issue of our newsletter. Every week, Ariel and Khalil, writers based in Mauritius, investigate the impact the oil spill is having on the country and its people, politics and nature.
It started as 5,000 volunteers building sorbent booms to slow the flow of oil and to protect the sea. It’s now evolved into something bigger – Mauritius’ first mass movement in a generation. A movement that is gunning not just for the prime minister and his party, but for the country’s entire political establishment.
How did a coming together of citizens who wanted to protect the sea lead to a mass movement that is today demanding systemic change? I wanted to find out.
In this issue
The mass movement has already brought change
Authorities counterattack
Local inhabitants treated with contempt
Mauritius witnessed three historic coming togethers in less than two months
Over the past couple of months, I’ve spoken to inhabitants of Mahébourg and other areas whose lives have been upturned by the oil spill. I’ve spoken to people who travelled for hours to be part of historic public demonstrations. I’ve documented the actions (and inactions) of the authorities.
And I wrote about what I found in a feature article for the Independent. Here’s the gist of the piece (also summarised in a series of tweets here):
Coming together is at the basis of any movement. But it hasn't happened in any meaningful scale in Mauritius since the late 70s when trade unionists and students organised mass strikes, culminating in a new leftwing party winning EVERY SEAT in parliament. Why?
Major political parties abandoned grassroots politics in favour of exploiting the state in the interest of big capital. They started banding together to guarantee they entered parliament. The result? Decrease in citizens' activism and growing distrust and anger in the establishment.
Mauritians could no longer channel their anger into action because of that decrease in activism. They could no longer form mass movements. Until …
The ecocide happened and attacked something that is precious to every Mauritian: the sea. The sea is a part of our cultural identity. It is the commonality that cuts across age, class, ethnicity. So when it is damaged, we all share the same hurt. And we come together.
Meanwhile the political establishment flatly failed to protect the sea. And that was seen by Mauritians as betrayal. It is the anger of betrayal that broke the camel's back. It reignited a desire for action not seen for a generation.
Decades' worth of anger and frustration came pouring out … into action and a concrete demand: a change in the entire political establishment. It is that desire for systemic change that has kept people mobilised even after the spill.
Will this change happen? It already is … in Mahébourg where it all started. Since the oil spill, Mahébourg waterfront has become a site of rich intellectual and cultural exchanges. There are open assemblies where local inhabitants share thoughts & debate political ideas.
Behind it all is a small leftwing party called Rezistans ek Alternativ (Resistance and Alternative, REA). Their members were among the first to build booms the night of the spill. The party comprises social activists, environmental activists and trade unionists.
REA organised the region’s largest public demonstration two weeks ago. It has been in Mahébourg ever since the night of the spill, promoting and encouraging collectivism and togetherness and to assist the local community.
It seems then, that the change that so many Mauritians are crying out for, is already underway. Grassroots politics has reappeared and it involves citizens and a new party that's not part of the establishment.
The latest
⚫ One of the movement’s figureheads arrested
Bruneau Laurette was arrested this week for an apparent failure to pay a rental car company MUR90,000 (around US$2,000) earlier this year. But according to l’express newspaper, while Laurette initially failed to make the payment, he did come through with the full amount … in July, a full two months ago. I know bureaucracy is slow but this is some BS. It’s hard not to conclude that the whole thing is a ploy to tarnish Laurette’s image and to intimidate activists. Laurette has also made a least one supporting document public. He has since been released, saying the authorities are targeting him because of his role in the mass movement.
One thing to point out: if the authorities are okay to target a well-known figure in such a way, what are they doing to those who don’t have a public profile and whom they want silenced?
More: The full piece in l’express (in French)
⚫ Mauritian PM suing journalists and claiming MUR100 million in damages
That’s US$2.5 million. Pravind Jugnauth claims that, in comment pieces, two journalists inferred he is “mad” and is “a racist,” among other things.
Jugnauth’s government has a history of cracking down on the media. Last month, police officers barred journalists with media outlets l’express and Top FM from attending a press conference by the Prime Minister.
More: You can read excerpts from the comment pieces here.
⚫ MPs for areas affected by the oil spill are too busy to meet their constituents
MPs were meant to sit down with taxi operators from Mahébourg, a village greatly impacted by the oil spill, but pulled out last minute because “they didn’t have time,” according to a representative of the taxi operators.
This is obviously infuriating. While entire livelihoods are being decimated because of the Covid lockdown and the oil spill, people elected to represent citizens are completely failing to do so. But it is not surprising. I’ve heard over and over again from inhabitants of Mahébourg about how MPs and even civil servants have been absent not just in the aftermath of the oil spill, but for many years. This seeming unwillingness of the state to care for people is one of the main reasons why a mass movement has come about. If the state is no longer working in the interest of the people, then the people must react.
More: I’ve previously reported how local inhabitants are not involved enough in clean up initiatives. l’express did a deeper dive and “followed the money” (in French).
Thanks. We Mauritians living overseas are grateful for this blog which keeps us "au courant". Sad about the fascistic use of police to harass activists.