France's interior minister has ordered authorities in the French overseas department of Mayotte to arrange deportation flights for migrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as Paris seeks to clamp down on illegal immigration to the island off the east coast of Africa.
"From October, the police chief of Mayotte... will arrange group flights to escort illegal immigrants back to the Democratic Republic of Congo," France's new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who says his priority is "restoring order", told the French parliament.
A member of Retailleau's team said that four such flights had already been arranged since February and that "at least three" were planned for October to help empty detention centres in French territory.
Cooperation with the authorities in DR Congo over the issue was "excellent", the member of the team added.
Every year thousands of people from the neighbouring Comoros archipelago or mainland Africa try to reach Mayotte, often aboard small kwassa kwassa boats, and migrants are now estimated to make up nearly half of Mayotte's population of around 320,000.
The influx has caused major tensions, including protests, with many locals complaining about crime and poverty.
Security deals with Burundi, Rwanda
Retailleau also announced bilateral security agreements with countries in Africa's Great Lakes region, including Burundi and Rwanda, to "stop the flow" of migrants.
Retailleau, a hardline conservative, has said he does not think immigration presents "an opportunity" for France and vowed to use "all levers at our disposal" to bring it under control.
"My only obsession is to be useful to France," he told French daily Le Figaro in an interview published Wednesday. "That is, for me, the only thing that matters."
(with AFP)
