On the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, the destruction of one of the largest slums has begun. “We want to end the slums. The situation is unbearable,” prefect Thierry Suquet said Monday morning.
“Half of the families living here have already moved elsewhere,” it says. The government is providing alternative housing to French and foreigners with papers living there, Suquet stressed.
Initially, 162 homes in the district were to be demolished, mainly small houses with corrugated iron roofs. A total of about 1,000 accommodations on the island will be destroyed in the coming weeks.
“Unworthy Conditions”
“Political will is paying off in Mayotte: We will continue to destroy slums where people live in degrading conditions, while providing alternative accommodation,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.
Several hundred security forces were flown in from mainland France for the action dubbed “Wuambushu”. At the same time, Darmanin wants to deport many people without a residence permit. The judiciary temporarily halted the action, but recent court decisions approved the state’s actions.
Outermost region of the EU
The island of Mayotte, which is geographically part of the Comoros archipelago, voted to remain with France in 1974. It has had the status of an outermost region of the EU since 2014. The Comoros do not recognize Mayotte’s connection with France.
Massive immigration despite deportations
Since the nearest Comorian island is only 70 kilometers away, countless Comorian immigrants – who share the same language and culture – have been coming to Mayotte for years. About half of the population of Mayotte does not have French nationality and in most cases has no right of residence. One third of non-French people were born in Mayotte.
France has been deporting people without residence rights from Mayotte on a large scale for years. In the past two years there have been more than 20,000 – and many of those who have been deported will return sooner or later.
Source: Krone
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