(Ecofin Agency) - Determined to recover the lands from their ancestors back in the 1700s, Mauritian inheritors formed a group represented by Danielle Tancrel, Didier Kisnorbo and Raymonde Bisset to denounce their situation which so far has been ignored by the government.

“The crime has been recognized by the Commission for Truth and Justice: Mauritian families have been dispossessed from their lands in the past, especially during the post-slavery period by the sugar industry, in various areas. The Commission for Truth and Justice denounces abusive awarding of land rights with the complicity of the then shady notaries,” said former Journalist Jean Clément Cangy in the Forum, two years ago.

“Even if restituting these lands to the families concerned might be difficult at the moment, the State could still force the sugar industry to negotiate with them over some compensation which they would most likely welcome,” he added.

In 2009, the end of the tunnel seemed close for the land inheritors as was established the Commission for Truth and Justice. After investigating hundreds of cases, the commission indeed produced a report that points out 15 companies including Medine Sugar Estate, Fuel Sugar Estate (now Alteo), and Mon desert mon trésor Ltd.

In the report, various measures were recommended to improve land management in Mauritius and recognize the rights of the complainants. Among these, the establishment of an office which would handle and receive complains and set safeguards. From a legal aspect, the report urged for the establishment of a Land Management Department within the Supreme Court or at least, of a court which would play the same role.

The Commission also recommended that the former colonial powers, namely the UK and France, participate, financially, in the compensation of the poorest families.  

However, after five years, these recommendations seemed to have fallen in deaf ears. And this silence is what drove these families to send on July 12, 2016, a letter to the UNESCO’s Director General asking for the help of the international community.

Souha Touré