Jessy Marcelin (born 1934) is a Chagossian musician and activist who was born in 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 ...

and forced to leave as part of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's displacement of the Chagossian people. Marcelin was born in 1934 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 ...

, part of the Chagos Archipelago. In 1970, she was forced to leave Chagos during the

expulsion of the Chagossians The United Kingdom, at the request of the United States, began expelling the inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago in 1968, concluding its forced deportations on 27 April 1973 with the expulsion of the remaining Chagossians on the Peros Banhos ...

from the archipelago, as the United Kingdom pursued the construction of a military base in what is now formally known as

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 ...

. Marcelin was pregnant at the time of her expulsion; she is a mother of 14 children, two of whom are buried back on her native atoll. Having settled in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

, she began composing music nostalgic for her former home, including the song "Payanke dan lizur" ("Tropicbird in the light") and "Bato ale laba" ("The ship goes over there"). Her music is written in her home islands' ''

sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

'' style. She also became active in Chagossian exile groups, primarily the Seychelles Chagossian Committee, a partner organization of the Chagos Refugee Group, eventually becoming a veteran member of the movement. At a 2008 protest in front of the House of Lords, she said, "We want the Americans and their military base off the islands so we can live in peace in our homeland. And we want compensation for the 40 years of suffering in exile."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelin, Jessy Possibly living people 1934 births Chagossian people 21st-century women musicians Women activists