Almost 150 years ago, after troops led by Sheikhs Al Mokrani and Al Haddad failed in their year-long resistance to French colonial rule in Algeria, France sent hundreds of Algerians to what was then a penal colony β the island of New Caledonia.
More than an estimated 2,000 Algerians who were considered “rebels” by the French were deported to the Pacific island in the last quarter of the 19th century. Journeying by sea β some dying after refusing to eat pork when their dates ran out β they were imprisoned in jails in New Caledonia.
First colonised by France in 1853, New Caledonia today remains in French possession and about 10 percent of its 270,000 population is of Algerian origin. Three generations later, this exile has had a lasting legacy for the deportees’ descendants still living on the island.
Some feel a deep resentment about their ancestors’ exile and treatment on the voyage and during their subsequent imprisonment in the island’s prisons. When the inmates were released, they weren’t allowed to return home. Many descendants feel a strong affinity with what they consider their homeland and travelling to Algeria to discover their roots is considered an important rite of passage.
Now, citizens will vote on the independence of the Pacific island.
Full film: http://aje.io/24pf8
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