I bumped into this article regarding the hakkas (ethnic group of Han Chinese) in Mauritius.

“Chinese make up only 3 per cent of the 1.2 million people of Mauritius. Of the 30,000 or so Chinese, 90 per cent are Hakkas. Hakkas from China began settling in Mauritius in 1868. The Hakka community is thriving and becoming more and more prosperous with Chinese businesses and professionals dominating many areas of the economy.

Most of the Hakka come from Moyen (Mexian) with a significant number coming after the Taiping revolution from different Hakka communities in China. Many Hakka used the port of Hong Kong to go to South Africa which also had a Hakka community, but decided to stop at Mauritius. Interestingly, the Hakka community is a tight-knit group who mostly do NOT speak Hakka as a first language but ‘Creole’ – the language of ‘real’ business in Mauritius. Efforts were made to preserve the language and culture by sending children back to China during the civil war years in order to be educated or to the local Chinese (Hakka) schools …. unfortunately this severely handicapped them. The ones who went to China or Chinese schools in Mauritius (often first born sons) were at a great disadvantage compared to the ones who began education in English schools. In addition, the choice of Chinese school was often political as there were Communist and Nationalist schools. Today, Chinese children are usually sent to Western universities, mainly in England or Canada to be educated before going back ‘home’ to Mauritius.

They call themselves Mauritians and superficially, they may appear to have integrated into the population but this is incorrect. To the outsider who does not know better, the Hakka have ‘gone native’ in language and in many ways culture. But for these ‘Mauritians’, there exists a subtle social circle consisting of other Mauritians who just ‘happen’ to be ethnic Hakka Chinese. This is not just in Mauritius. The Mauritian association in Canada, which is open to all Mauritians, just ‘happens’ to be 99% Chinese (Hakka). Ironically, even though the language is almost gone and the culture no longer ‘Chinese’, the Hakka strongly identify with China and their ancestory. Somehow basic Chinese values hold.

Efforts are currently underway to restore the Chinese language and emphasis Chinese culture. Mandarin (not Hakka) language schools are becoming popular among upper middle class families. Unfortunately, they do not identify as stongly with Hakka culture and language. One reason is that others define a ‘Hakka’ as someone who speaks the language or has Hakka culture, rather than by their common history. By this definition, the ethnic Hakka population of the country is not Hakka. ”

Reference – http://www.asiawind.com/pub/forum/fhakka/mhonarc/threads.html