THE MOUSE THAT ROARED IN THE PACIFIC

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33875, 21 June 1975, Page 12

THE MOUSE THAT ROARED IN THE PACIFIC

LONDON. As soon as Albert Ellice, a Victorian merchant adventurer, dropped anchor off Ocean Island in 1900 he signed an agreement with “the king and natives” granting his company phosphate rights for 999 years.

Yet the islanders had no king. The man whose thumbprint appeared on the document was an ordinary citizen. And the interpreter who acted as the go-between for the deal — which was worth hundreds of millions of pounds — later admitted that he had not mentioned the bit about 999 years to the islanders. Three-quarters of a century later, as Britain nears the end of the process of liquidating her colonies. Whitehall still has a problem with Ocean Island in the West Pacific. The inhabitants are suing the British Government for £22m. Supported by some members of Parliament, they are also resisting Brit-

ain’s plans to keep them linked with people of the neighbouring Gilbert and Ellice Islands on independence. A report by two British members of Parliament who recently returned from Ocean Island says that the Government's attitude to the political aspirations of the islanders “does not stand up to historical analysis.” The M.P.s say they found "disquieting evidence of exploitation” on their visit to the island, and

they call for “an act of restitution” to the islanders. The report, by Sir Bernard Braine (Conservative) and John Lee (Labour) has been sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but is unlikely to be published. Ethnic difference But the report will give a considerable boost to the islander’s claim that they are ethically different from the people of Gilbert and Ellice Islands, to which the British Government wants them to remain linked on independence. The M.P.s say that after consulting the authorities they came to the conclusion that the British Government’s refusal to consider a separate existence for the Banabans, as the Ocean Islanders are called, was “purely economic”. It is for the same reason that the Banabans wish to be separate from

the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.

The islanders’ dogged pursuit of what they believe to be their politcal and economic rights is now moving towards a climax. Twelve of the islanders have begun to give evidence at the High Court hearing in London of their actions against the British Phosphate Commissioners and the British Government. On the political front they are in London to campaign for associated status with Fiji.

Their island, know as Banaba in their own tongue, derives its commercial attractiveness from the fact that it is heavily encrusted with bird drop-

pings, which makes it one of the richest phosphate deposits in the world. No restoration The British Phosphate Commissioners exhausted the phosphates and ravaged the land, the report says. And the M.P.s add that they saw no evidence of effective restoration of worked-out land. Three governments, the British, Australian and New Zealand, carried out the exploitation. The Banabans have come a long way in sophistication since Ellice arrived in the blue water off Ocean Island on May 3, 1900. Ellice was “clearly a fast operator,” John Mac-

donald, for the islanders, told the High Court. The phosphate Ellice got was worth hundreds of millions of pounds; and although the islanders were later granted royalties, they claim that these were ludicrously low. It has taken a long time for the chickens to come home to roost. For years the Banabans’ adviser was an appointed British civil servant who purported to represent the Banabans’ interests. Rotan Tito, the 75-year-old leader of the Banabans, recalled in evidence that in 1931, the then Resident Commissioner, Sir Arthur Grimble, wrote to the islanders “as if we were children” because the islan-

ders were hesitating about handing over more land for phosphate mining. Life and Death The islanders could choose between two headings, Life and Death, Grimble wrote. Under “Life,” Grimble said that if they sold at the agreed price, “they would be forgiven.” Under “Death,” he wrote that if they refused there would be no limit to the mining. “Do you think that your land cannot be taken away from you? Do not be blind. Who then will know the area of the seized lands as there is no agreement? Where will extraction stop as there is no agreement?

Further, your land will be seized at an unjust price. “What will become of you then, and your sons and grandsons when your land is dug out and you have no savings in the bank? “Therefore you should consider very carefully what I have said now that your day of choosing between Life and Death has come. “P.S. You will be called to sign the agreement by the Resident Commissioner on Tuesday next, and if you sign, your misconduct will be pardoned. If the agreement is not signed, then the Banabans will be charged for this misdemeanour. Consideration will also be given to destroying Buakonikai (a Banaban village) to make way for excavation if there is no agreement.” Overawed by this, the Banabans signed the agreement. As recently as 1965 a group of Banabans carrying spears headed towards the Resident Commissioner’s house, but were stopped by the Rev. Tebuke Rotan, Rotan Tito’s son, who combines his Methodism with commercial shrewdness. Outside lawyer Under Tebuke’s guidance the Banabans hired an outside “adviser,” M. J. C. Saunders, a British lawyer. They gave him a touching welcome to Ocean Island, even composing a political oratorio in which they described their island as “Miss Abandoned.” In 1968, Saunders took two of the Banaban leaders to London to meet Mrs Judith Hart at the Commonwealth Office. The Banabans were then presented with a Government minute in which they were offered £80,000 “in consideration of the effects of phosphate mining since 1900.” This offer is described by Sir Bernard and Mr Lee as “derisory” and the episode “unsavoury.” At this point Tebuke had one of his highly useful visions, in which God told him not to sign the document. He took the document back home, where another adviser, an Indian, told him: “If you sign this, you will throw away your birthright.” From this point the islanders decided to trust no one. The 400 landowners on Ocean Island formed a

fighting fund from their royalties, hired economic and political advisers, and took on the British, Australian and New Zealand governments. Economic argument Their main economic argument is that the British Phosphate Commissioners deliberately kept down the price of phosphate — so restricting the amount, of royalties — to please farmers in Australia and New Zealand. B.P.C. is denying this charge. B.P.C. is also denying that it has failed to replant worked-out areas with coconut trees. A final irony of the case is that many of the Banabans have never seen their homeland. They were forcibly deported by the Japanese during the war, and then settled on another island 1600 miles away in Fiji. Their right to return was guaranteed by Britain at the time. Now they claim that Foreign and Commonwealth Office is creating difficulties, and that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is creating difficulties, and that Britain wants them to belong to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands because Ocean Island supplies almost half the revenue. Their island’s symbol shows a flying frigate bird, which the islanders honour as the provider of their wealth. Their motto is “Atuara buokira” which means: May God help us. — O.F.N.S. COPYRIGHT.

The motto of the people of phosphate-rich Ocean Island is Atuara Buokira which means: May God Help Us. But they are now calling on sophisticated London barristers to help them in a legal constitutional battle with the British authorities before they get their independence. lAN MATHER reviews their claims in this special article.