Sabrina Jean (born 1973) is a second-generation Chagossian and activist for the Chagossian community to return home to the

Chagos Islands The Chagos Archipelago (, ) or Chagos Islands (formerly , and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmo ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, administered as part of the

British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chago ...

Background

Sabrina Jean was born in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, the daughter of Serge Aristide, who was born on the atoll of

Peros Banhos Peros Banhos, Pedro dos Banhos or Baixos de Pêro dos Banhos in old maps, is a formerly inhabited atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Île Yeye, located at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the Chagos Archipelago that is closes ...

in 1950 but left for Mauritius in 1967 when his mother was unwell. When Aristide tried to return to Peros Banhos in the late 1960s and early 1970s he was told that his home had been given to the UK. Jean's father, Serge Aristide, was among the 1,500-plus people forced to leave the British overseas territory when it was leased to the US to build a military base in

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are set to become a former B ...

. They were taken in boats to Mauritius and the Seychelles without relocation assistance, and most lived in poverty. Jean moved from Mauritius to the town of

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

in the UK in 2006. Crawley is home to around 3,000 second-generation Chagossians, Britain's largest Chagossian population.

Activism

In Mauritius Jean joined a youth group of Chagossians led by

Olivier Bancoult Louis Olivier Bancoult (born 1964) is a Chagossian activist for the right of return and the leader of the Chagos Refugee Group (CRG). Biography He was born in 1964 on the island of Peros Banhos in the Chagos Archipelago, from where he was forci ...

, which brought a sense of community and awareness to the second and third generation Chagossians born in Mauritius. On relocating to Crawley in 2006, Jean became chairperson of the Chagos Refugee Group In 2011 she was allowed by the UK government to visit her home island of

, part of the Chagos Islands for the first and only time, visiting the homeland of her father. Speaking of the atoll, Jean said “There is nothing, just structures of houses and of the church. There is nothing inside. Nothing. It's deserted. It was heartbreaking to see it with my own eyes.” In 2013 Jean helped found the Chagos Football Association and is its current chairperson.

''Another Paradise''

A documentary film by Belgian film director Olivier Magis that chronicles the plight of the Chagossian community in Crawley, '' Another Paradise'', was released in 2019 and features Jean throughout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean, Sabrina 1973 births British activists British women activists People from Crawley Living people Mauritian activists Mauritian women activists Chagossian people