Wilfried Devillers (special envoy to Mayotte), edited by Romain Rouillard (Photo credits: PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP) 20:12 pm, April 27, 2023

While the French authorities are still facing several sticking points to carry out Operation Wuambushu in Mayotte, the first dismantling of unhealthy slums has still begun. Europe 1 was able to witness one of these so-called "disbursement" operations.

Operation Wuambushu, intended to fight illegal immigration in Mayotte, is decidedly not a long quiet river. If the Comoros, where most of the illegal migrants originate, has finally agreed to open its ports, it is now the shipping company that provides the link between the two islands that suspends its rotations until further notice. An additional stick in the wheels of the police who were still able to start the operations of "disbursing". In other words, the dismantling of small slums deemed unhealthy.

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On the grounds of a future high school, Europe 1 was able to witness the destruction of ten homes this Thursday morning. However, some consider this figure starved compared to the ambitions pursued by Operation Wuambushu. "In the last two years, 2,000 substandard habitats have been demolished on the island. But to get to 2,000, you also need operations that make ten. And what is important is not "ten" but rather what it unlocks. It first settles the situation of the families who lived there and then it unblocks the construction site of the high school, "says Thierry Suquet, prefect of Mayotte.

A resident denounces the lack of relocation

On the side of the road, Aïssa watches the machines destroy her house. A bundle of documents in hand, she rejects the words of the prefect. "We had shown the documents as early as December. They said they would find a solution to find a plot. The following week, they came to us to tell us that they had not found anything, "denounces this woman, deprived of rehousing, according to her, while programs are normally planned by the prefecture.

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For his part, Naduf sees this destruction as a way to divert attention. "It's to hide their failure!" he fumbles. In parallel, the operations are taking their course, maintains the prefect. Three other dismantling should begin soon while Thierry Suquet still intends to appeal after the halt of the first destructions at the beginning of the week.