Seychelles on the road to multipolarity

Bonzour tou dimoun, fotespere zot tou zot byen. I vreman en plezir e en loner pou et la avek zot ozordi pou sa lesanz e Mon souete ki travay ki nou fer ozordi j annan en lenpak pozitiv, pou byenet limanite e lemonn an antye.

Which translates to, good morning everyone, I hope that you all find yourself in good health this morning. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here amongst you today for this exchange and I hope that the work we do here today has a positive impact on humanity and the world as a whole.

My name is Dereck Meriton and I am from the Seychelles. You may have heard of it. Often referred to as paradise, or the garden of Eden, but to us, the people of Seychelles, the Seychellois, it is home. A home that is no stranger to the negative impacts of global woes. The environmental disasters, the wars, recessions, the rise of mental health issues. All interconnected in one way or another to unsustainable economic system that sees us depleting global resources at an alarming rate.

But, in this finite world we inhabit, it is evident if not painfully obvious that any system that relies on an infinite exponential growth for its survival, is a by definition not sustainable and must be changed.

However, that is not what is happening. The world is fast becoming a playground for the rich and powerful peoples and nations, and here in the Seychelles we are no stranger to that, especially with more and more emphasis being put on catering to high end tourism, and more and more places are becoming inaccessible to our own people. Or the current state of the tuna fishing industry in the Seychelles as another example, where wealthy European companies backed and often subsidised by their respective countries and governments where they pay comparatively small licensing fees to fish in our waters but make so much more on their own returns. The last numbers that I had in that field was that we receive USD 70million over 6 years, yet they make 3-4 billion euro a year after value added. Not only is this inequitable, but it is also without conscience as they employ unsustainable methods, that lack the care for the health and sustainability of the local ecosystem, generating huge amounts of by-catch, including protected species.

As a result, our fish stock are being depleted and affected, and in turn tighter restrictions are put on the local small scale artisanal fishermen which then have a direct impact, a direct effect on our local food security.

Or the elite coming in, buying off big hotels to languish in their private holiday home villas while big five-star hotel franchises run the surrounding establishment, supporting a hierarchical work environment that pushes locals to just be a part of the background. This also often leads to gentrification, increasing societal ills in the poorer areas of society whilst everyone is just left pointing fingers, trying to assign blame, instead of trying to find out why people are turning more and more towards substance abuse and crime.

So, why you may ask, do we put up with such seemingly unfair and inequitable practices then? And the answer is simple. What choice do we have. As a small developing island state, collaboration with the international community helps our growth. That’s how it’s always been through history. That’s how every country has grown economically through partnership and collaboration with other countries. And now it is the very same situation that we find ourselves in and many other developing countries find themselves in. However, nowadays if we want to qualify for assistance in such ways, we find constant regulations being pushed on us, often without understanding the cultures and practices of the locals.

At some point we need to call into question the validity if not morality of such systems and such practices. It is time for a new way. A way where we all support each other, where we promote each other, where we work together for the benefit of the people, not just a few. Where the systems in place are not based on rampant greed, exploitation and this “dog eat dog” mentality where smaller dogs are automatically at a disadvantage.

I do hope that by sharing some examples of my countries shortcomings in response to all these global activities have shed some light on just how far reaching this obsessive western ideologies steeped in neocolonialism can be. And that together we can formulate ideas on a more equitable way of living together beyond this simple matter of might make right. I hope it’s been insightful. Thank you for your time.