A French court has halted the controversial clearance of a slum, and the expulsion of migrants from the French Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte. The expulsion plan has provoked clashes between locals and security forces, and sparked tensions with neighbouring Comoros, where boatloads of returned migrants are being refused landfall. What is going on?
Mayotte is France's poorest department. The other three islands making up the Comoros archipelago - Mohéli, Anjouan and Grande Comore- have been independent since a referendum in 1974. Poverty is deep and endemic in the Republic of the Comores.
Around half of Mayotte's population of 350,000 were born on the other islands in the group, many of them fleeing the Comores in the wake of independence. Thousands of African migrants, especially Comorans, try to reach Mayotte illegally every year.
Inhabitants of Mayotte benefit from French health care, social welfare and education, making the overseas territory an irresistable magnet for migrants from the neighbouring islands.
In 2019, France pledged 150 million euros in development aid as part of a deal to tackle human trafficking and ease the repatriation of Comorans from Mayotte.
Slum clearance
The recent controversial slum clearance operation, called Wuambushu or 'Take Back' in the local language, is an effort to expel migrants from urban slums on Mayotte and thus improve living conditions for locals.
The plan is to deport those without papers to the Comores.
Some 1,800 members of the French security forces have been deployed for the operation, including hundreds sent from Paris. There have been violent clashes between police and younng slum dwellers.
A court in Mamoudzou on Tuesday stopped the clearance of one slum located at Koungou near the capital, saying the action had no legal foundation and threatened public order.
The local administration has said it will appeal.
🇫🇷 French #police are preparing for a mass illegal immigrant expulsion operation on the French island of #Mayotte, where they plan to expel at least 300 migrants per day for 2 months.
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) April 21, 2023
Over a hundred officers have been sent in from mainland France. Take a look 👇 pic.twitter.com/UpzOOYrkWf
France is taking resolute action
The authorities in Comoros, whose three islands lie to the northwest of the French territory, said they had refused to allow a boat carrying migrants deported from Mayotte to land on Anjouan. Most of the illegal migrants being deported are Comoran.
Comoros has also suspended passenger traffic at Mutsamudu, the port where deported migrants usually land.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin insists that France is taking "resolute action" against crime and gangs on Mayotte.
