I am Banaban. I come from an ancestry of survivors and a once rich land.

However, Banaba died to make other nations live. The Banabans though are proud survivors and we maintain that we are a race that still lives.

Google will tell you my ancestral home of Banaba is part of Kiribati.

Though the current generation has Kiribati blood, our island of Banaba was never birthed into this world as part of Kiribati.

Before the advent of colonialism, we have always held our own identity.

When it comes to the Kiribati Independence Day on July 12, what’s a celebratory moment for I-Kiribati is a painful one for the Banabans.

When Kiribati gained independence from the British Crown, it claimed Banaba as part of its territory, and Britain handed Banaba to Kiribati.

Painful relationship
The relationship between Banaba and Kiribati became the most painful one that many do not know about.

Colonial political history is painful, but we move forward and know that we as Banabans continue to live.

This is my story and I share bits of it in the light of Kiribati Language week or Kiribati Independence week.

The Banabans have always stood firmly in our roots as Banabans.

This is not to take away from Kiribati language week and the celebration of the culture, but this is an opportunity to educate people about the Banabans because it can be easy to dismiss who we are and slot us under the “Kiribati” category.

Unfortunately, some could say: What Banabans? Without a language? Yes, Banabans speak the Kiribati language; an educated person knows that language can be lost, especially when a group becomes dominated by another due to invasions, dominations and relationships.

Language is not the only marker of racial identity.

Environmental injustice
Banaba was once filled with phosphate and it became victim to one of the world’s largest environmental injustices.

In 1900, the discovery of phosphate on Banaba by New Zealander Albert Ellis caused the beginning of systemic mining by the British Phosphate Commission (BPC).

Not many Kiwis know that New Zealand was part of the BPC.

New Zealand’s poor lands became viable agricultural lands from phosphate mined from my ancestral island of Banaba. I guess you could say that the land of Banaba died so New Zealand could live.

The Māori say: Ka mate kāinga tahi, ka ora kāinga rua, or a first home dies, a second home lives.

During World War II, Japan invaded Banaba. It was an era of horror.

Banabans were literally killed mercilessly for breaking curfew rules.

Shipped off as slaves
Banabans were shipped off to islands occupied by Japan to work as slaves.

When the war ended, my people held onto the hope that they could return to normal life in Banaba.

However, the colonial government gathered the Banabans in Tarawa and advised them that Banaba was uninhabitable due to the Japanese bombing.

The Banabans were promised a new land with beautiful homes, food in plenty and beautiful, tropical weather.

Bought out of their own phosphate royalties, Rabi island in Fiji became their new home.

Arriving on 15 December 1945, they saw no homes, no food, no tropical weather. They were given tents in a cow paddock during hurricane season.

In 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Rabi when I was in Fiji for the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness Climate Change Project. An assignment to create a documentary piece instantly made me think of Rabi, the island my mother comes from.

From NZ to Rabi
After a few phone calls to my mother in New Zealand, we started putting things into place to make it happen. By the grace of God, my mum and stepdad managed to fly over to Fiji to embark on this journey with me.

The journey from New Zealand to Rabi went like this: plane, car, bus, ferry, car, bus, ferry.

Upon arrival in Rabi, my uncle Aretana welcomed us home.

Rabi life is simply relaxing.

This trip was monumental for me. It affirmed who I was as a Banaban.

Despite the atrocities my people faced, they still hold onto their faith, they still sing and dance and they still smile.

However, I am still angry.

Destroying Banaba
My people’s blood and bones are on the land I live on now.

New Zealand, Australia and the UK must be held to account for the part they played in destroying Banaba and rendering the Banaban race like it never existed.

The BPC governments today need to acknowledge what they did and be part of the solution in rebuilding Banaba and offering aid to the Banabans on Banaba and Rabi.

Ruled by Kiribati and Fiji we are a small community that cannot do it alone.

The Fiji-Banabans and the NZ-Banaban diaspora would love to return to Banaba, but we’re a long way from this reality. I hope it happens one day. Even a visit.

I am Banaban. I am the product of a resilient community. I come from an ancestry of survivors.

Banabans of Rabi – A Story of Survival, a short documentary by Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom while on assignment during their PMC 2018 Bearing Witness climate change project in Fiji.

Hele Christopher-Ikimotu is a youth worker for a Pasifika NGO. He has a Bachelor of Communication Studies (Journalism) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies. He travelled to Rabi in 2018 with the support of the AUT Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness Project. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

ANALYSIS: By Dr Crosbie Walsh

Nauru hosts the Pacific Islands Forum — whose membership includes Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific Islands nations — from today until Wednesday when lofty ideas may help soften present realities.

The island, 56km south of the Equator and thousands of kilometres from anywhere else, is 21 km in size and its population is 11,000, 40 percent of whom have type 2 diabetes, 90 percent are unemployed and 94 percent obese – the highest rate in the world.

The island’s recent history is one of rags to riches and rags again.

READ MORE: Nauru faces media, security pressure ahead of Pacific Islands Forum

For most of the past century millions of tonnes of phosphate from bird droppings were mined and exported as fertiliser to Australia and New Zealand, leaving much of the area barren.

In 1970, the British Phosphate Commission handed over control to the Nauru government. Mining increased, briefly making Nauru the second most wealthy nation on earth based on GDP per capita, second only to the United Arab Emirates.

-Partners-

Most of the phosphate was extracted through strip mining which leaves the earth largely barren, infertile, and unable to sustain plant life.

Currently, about 90 percent of the island is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral, which is unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Additionally, runoff from mining sites has left the water in and around Nauru severely contaminated.

About 90 percent of Nauru is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral … unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Image: CWB

Marine pollution
Researchers estimate that approximately 40 percent of the marine life has been lost due to this pollution. Additionally, the only remaining phosphate on the island would not produce a profit if mined.

In 1989, Nauru took Australia to the International Court of Justice over its actions during its administration of Nauru, and particularly its failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas on Nauru. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained. Image: CWB

In 1993, the government won a legal case against Australia for its mismanagement. The reparations have been used for restoration projects, one of which is a detention centre for more than 1000 refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

Some have called Nauru an Australian “client state.”

Since then, the political and economic situation has worsened. The phosphate trust fund was mismanaged (thanks largely to the influence of a modern beachcomber) and most of its assets lost.

Corruption is reported as rampant. Searching desperately for an income, government
briefly facilitated and condoned money laundering, and now relies heavily on aid and income from the Australian refugee detention centre where conditions have been reported as “akin to torture”.

Disturbing report
This BBC report on the effects on refugee children is especially disturbing.

Both governments have kept the injustices perpetrated against these refugees quiet by limiting access to the island.

A media visa costs $8000, taking pictures inside the detention centre is forbidden; so is carrying a smart phone with a camera.

In 2015, Australia passed the Australian Border Force Act, which makes speaking out about the conditions inside its camps on Nauru, and Manus in PNG, punishable by a two-year prison sentence.

It will be interesting to see how both governments, and other members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including New Zealand that benefited greatly from Nauru phosphates, handle questions over the next two days — and whether the NGOs present ask the right ones.

Dr Croz Walsh is a retired development studies professor at the University of the South Pacific. In his blog, he comments on New Zealand, Fiji, and Pacific Islands issues of political and social interest.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz