Letter to the Editor - Criticisms towards Seychellois of Indian origin: Are they justified? |19 July 2019
Recently there have been many xenophobic attitudes towards certain nationalities in the Seychelles, particularly the Indian race of Seychelles. There have been certain unjustified claims that shall be clarified here;
- Cartels in retail; There have been claims that all supermarkets or groceries owners, regularly meet up to discuss prices of goods and fix them at a specific high price.
False claim: There is no meeting between merchants to discuss prices, nor in regard to buy stock from a particular supplier. However, there are associations such as retailers association where concerns of retailers are discussed, example when government proposed laws to separate alcohol and food items in stores.
- Buying a lot of properties; There is a claim that many Indian origin Seychellois are buying or already own prime plots of land and buildings.
Fairly true: Seychelles has turned into a free-economy since 2008 due to IMF conditions thus property purchases are not controlled by the government. Furthermore, the sellers of these properties do not look at if the buyer is African-Seychellois, China-Seychellois or white-Seychellois, or Indo-seychellois. All that is looked at is what the person can offer. Furthermore, there are Seychellois of other origins who also own huge parcels of land and buildings, or even islands. In regard to government allocations of leased land, that shall be discussed in another article.
- Not employing Seychellois; That Indo-seychellois prefer bringing in labour from India to fill in jobs in their companies.
Reasonably true: The preference is given to Indian nationals due to the fact of reliability and long hours working availability. They will be readily available to work out of working hours or on public holidays which is needed in some businesses. It should be noted that they are not very cheap as perceived by some people, employers need to pay accommodation, food, transportation and air tickets on top of their basic salary.
- Marrying groom/bride from India; One of the main complaints towards Seychellois of Indian origin is that they do not integrate with Seychellois population and marry someone from India.
Reasonably true: Indian men or women prefer to get a life partner who has similar cultural and moral values as them. As Seychelles is quite small, it would be difficult for them to get a partner of Indian origin who still follow Indian traditions or is a Hinduism follower. Tradition and religion are important for a person of Indian origin thus are compelled to look for a partner in India and bring them to Seychelles.
Overall, the points mentioned above are the main criticisms towards Seychellois of Indian origin. To clarify the term Seychellois of Indian origin, it refers to the citizens of the Seychelles either nationalised or born to Seychellois parents and originate from India. The proposed solutions to these problems will be published soon.
Mr X (Can be anyone who wants the nation to progress)
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this letter are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.