Aurélie Marie-Lisette Talate

Aurélie Marie-Lisette Talate, also known as Lisette Talate or Aurelie Talate in her community (19 March 1941 – 4 January 2012 ) was a Chagossian activist and emblematic figure of the Chagossian struggle to regain their islands; which they were forcibly exiled from by the UK in order to establish the Diego Garcia military base.

Biography Born on Diego Garcia, and had six children who were all born on Diego Garcia, four of whom survived her. At the time of her death, she had thirteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Her parents, grandparents and her great-grandmother were all born on the Chagos Archipelago.

In her memoirs recorded by journalist John Pilger and the newspaper ‘Le Mauricien’ (The Mauritian), she recounts the circumstances which led to her forced exile. She explains that the inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago were, to begin with, not greatly concerned by the presence of British and American people on Diego Garcia; but rumours began to surface of a possible war on the horizon. Slowly but surely, boats began to take people away from the islands, who would then never come back - and the Chagossian people began to ask questions among themselves. Lisette Talate then left on a boat called Perle II with her family to visit a neighbouring island, Peros Banhos, where her mother was born. There, she witnessed soldiers capturing pet dogs and burning them alive. At the same time, the shops were no longer able to replenish their supplies.

In 1973, Lisette Talate and her family - her children, her two sisters and her mother, were finally forced onto a cargo ship called Norvder, headed towards Port-Louis, the capital of Mauritius. There, they had no choice but to live in a slum. The reason Lisette gave for their death has often been repeated by journalists and supporters of the Chagossian people to illustrate their struggle: “They died of sagren (sadness). Jollice saw the horror of the fate of the pet dogs. The doctor said that there is no cure for sadness."

Soon after their exile, Lisette and other Chagossian women, in particular her sister-in-law Charlesia Alexis, and Rita Élysée Bancoult, joined together to defend their rights. They organised demonstrations and hunger strikes, most notably in 1975, 1978, 1980 and 1981. Lisette was temporarily imprisoned in Rose-Hill, where she began another hunger strike.

In 1982, the British government permitted negotiations and proposed compensation to the Chagossian refugees, who collectively received four million pounds from the UK government, and land to the value of one million pounds from the Mauritian government.

Charlesia Alexis, Lisette Talate and Olivier Bancoult, the son of Rita Élysée Bancoult, founded the Chagos Refugee Group (CRG) to defend their cause in the pursuit of justice. The same year, she was permitted to briefly visit the island of her birth, more than thirty years after her forced expulsion.

Death In 2012, following complications with high blood pressure, Lisette Talate was admitted to the Jeetoo hospital in Port-Louis, Mauritius. She died there on January 4th, after ten days in hospital.

Personal life Lisette's daughter Eileen has reportedly followed in her activist footsteps.

In 2015, she was one of two women to whom the Ministry of Gender Equality, of Child Development and of Family Well-being in Mauritius gave an official tribute on International Women's Day.

A community centre in Pointe-aux-Sables, Mauritius, was named after her along with the public swimming pool at Saint-Paul à La Réunion.

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