‘If they fall, we all fall’: The ecocide that sparked a revolution in Mauritius

When an oil spill threatened the livelihoods of fishers in a village in Mauritius, the entire island mobilised to bring down the political establishment. Khalil A Cassimally reports

A man scoops leaked oil from the vessel MV Wakashio, which ran aground off the coast of southeast Mauritius in August (L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty )

Mahebourg is a picturesque village on the southeast coast of Mauritius. Its shores are usually buzzing with fishers in the morning, chatting while disembarking their catch from pirogues, or peppered with families or friends sat together playing cards and dominoes. But then tragedy struck, devastating this community of 15,000 people.

In late July, MV Wakashio, a 300-metre long bulk carrier carrying 4,000 tons of oil, crashed into fragile coral reefs a few kilometres from Mahebourg. Just under two weeks later, oil started spilling into the turquoise lagoons, turning the sea and the shores black.

“The local economy depends on fishers,” says Brummell Laurent, owner of a local shop that sells fishing gears. “It’s the fishers who buy from the local shops. Everyone here is linked to them. If they fall, the whole community falls – it breaks the entire link.”