Liseby Bertrand was born on 24 July 1953 on Île du Coin,[1] the most densely populated island of the Peros Banhos atoll, in the Chagos archipelago.
Her mother, Marcelle Antalika, born in the 1930s on Île du Coin, was working at the preparation of copra (the dried flesh of the coconut) for the plantation, but passed away when Liseby was seven years old.
[1] In 2018, as Mauritius took the United Kingdom to the International Court of Justice regarding sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, Liseby Elysé was one of five Chagossians to testify in writing about her history, at the request of the Mauritian side.
However, as she was unable to read out a text written in advance, she did so by means of a pre-recorded video,[4] but was nevertheless present at the hearing in The Hague in September 2018, as part of the Mauritian delegation.
[5] On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly took up this advisory opinion and put to the vote a resolution calling for the return of Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and the resettlement of the Chagossians in their archipelago.
In February 2022, Liseby took part, along with four other Chagossians, in a new journey to the northern atolls of the Chagos, Peros Banhos, Salomon and Blenheim Reef, but organised for the first time by the Mauritian authorities.
[7] The expedition, which included the presence of scientists, was intended to demarcate the maritime boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives, as well as disembarking at Peros Banhos and Salomon and planting a Mauritian flag there.
[1] In March 2019, Liseby Elysé became a member of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean of the Republic of Mauritius following her testimony before the International Court of Justice.