In the recent years, Mauritians have moved from seeking their roots in the lands of their ancestors to the spread of their likes over the world. Migrants have settled Mauritius into a nation where life goes on in a wonderful mix of different people, religions and cultures, yet fascinating in the form of the world in miniature. It is like a stage where humanity is in fusion. What Mauritius is today, the world will be tomorrow. A metamorphosis is being engineered inside and between communities reproducing a human race apart. Our cramped territory with strong population pressure and slow economic developments has obliged tens of thousands of our children to (...) found colonies in Australia, South Africa, Britain, France, Canada and several other countries(...).

● Diasporas

There are two kinds of diaspora influencing Mauritians. One pertains to the local people having settled abroad, the other, racial in nature, originating from the mother country. The Sino-Mauritian diaspora concerns the local Chinese who have settled in different countries in Europe and the West. (...) Education, jobs and businesses are their main preoccupations. (...)

On the other hand, the Indo-Mauritian diaspora is based on all Indians whose forefathers were indentured in different countries as well as free immigrants to Europe, America and Africa, all coming up to more than twenty million people. They are known as the People of Indian Origins (PIOs) and have a common history. (...)

Nowadays, there is talk of a Creole diaspora to tap. It has started with a question of semantics as to who is a Creole. Anthropologists say that all people born in islands or colonies outside their motherlands are Creoles. The birth certificates of the first generation of Indians born in Mauritius bear testimony. The intention is to group descendants of slaves from Africa including those of mixed blood. Specifications are still being thought out and momentum is gathering.

● Diaspora of the Whites

While new associations are being forged, the strongest and the best invented by the Mauritian Whites is keeping abreast of its history since the days and the ways of Mahé de Labourdonnais. This is the only community that has recorded its history since its presence in Mauritius in the seventeenth century and continues building it in the same direction. (...) The sugar industry was of their making with the blessings of Britain. With independence on the offing, they felt their economic and cultural supremacy threatened. Luckily, SSR had made Mauritius an African state. (...) There were virgin lands awaiting exploitation.

The adventure started in 1965 when Labourdonnais sugar mill was dismantled, transported and fixed up in Hippo Valley in today?s Zimbabwe. South African, British and Mauritian capital came into play to found Lonrho, which became Illovo in 1997. (...) Second-hand machinery and equipment have been transported across roadless territories, even under bombshells. (...) A few of these heroes of the second half of the XXth century have familiar names like Froberville, Espitalier Noel, Lagesse, Leung Shing and many others.

● Truth and Reconciliation

Up to now, each Mauritian community has been looking for its own roots separately. It is high time a fusion were worked to reflect the strength of the Mauritian nation as a whole. (...) We are actually looking for land in Madagascar and Mozambique for agricultural uses to feed our people. (...) Perennial supplies can only be provided by long-standing companies experienced in the matter. (...)

Solutions to our major problems are in our own hands. The diasporas can be converted into a Mauritian diaspora in a win-win situation as it never was. (...) A step further and the full circle is reached. The Illovo is our next trump card. We have but to think and act positively bearing in mind the legendary achievements of our leaders. (...)

Nivriti SEWTOHUL