In Mayotte, towards a resumption of the "Wuambushu" operation?

Majicavo neighborhood, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, where several homes were to be destroyed as part of Operation Wuambushu. © RFI / Romain Philips

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3 min

On Wednesday, May 17, the French justice returned to the suspension of the demolition operation of the informal neighborhood of Talus 2, in Mayotte and maritime links resumed between the French island and the Comoros. The "Wuambushu" operation "will therefore be able to resume," says Gérald Darmanin.

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Will "Wuambushu" resume? After several weeks at a standstill, the vast operation to fight against immigration, delinquency and slums in Mayotte wanted by Gérald Darmanin, which mobilizes 1,800 police forces on the island, should regain momentum following a favorable court decision. The justice validated Wednesday a demolition operation in the district of Talus 2, in Koungou. It had been suspended only a few hours before its launch on April 24 and since then, the fight against substandard housing of the operation has been at a standstill.

► Read also: In Mayotte, a chaotic first week for the Wuambushu operation

The judge hearing the application for interim measures had considered that the demolition of the targeted habitats "endangered the safety" of other inhabitants, whose homes would be weakened. But the Court of Appeal of Mayotte on Wednesday overturned this order by ruling that "apart from their status as occupants", the applicants had "not justified any element that makes it possible to establish the reality of the right of property that they consider infringed".

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The judge notes the lack of respect for the rights of the defence, i.e. the State, and the incompetence of the judicial judge. Our determined action to destroy the unworthy habitat in Mayotte will therefore be able to resume, "responded Gérald Darmanin on Twitter. The operation of destruction of the sheet metal huts of Talus 2, will therefore take place "in the coming days", said his entourage. "The 'land reconquest and destruction of undignified habitat' component of Operation Wuambushu will finally be able to unfold," LR MP Mansour Kamardine said in a statement, calling on "the government to implement it quickly and fully."

« There have been only voluntary departures »

This decision comes on the same day as the resumption of maritime links between Mayotte and the island of Anjouan, in the Comoros. They had been suspended for three weeks because of a standoff between France and the Comoros over the expulsion of Comorians in an irregular situation. Every year, nearly 25,000 Comorians in an irregular situation are expelled from Mayotte to the port of Mutsamudu.

► READ ALSO: Mayotte: the president of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, asks the France "a pause" in its plan of expulsions

Moroni's government had warned Monday that it would only welcome Comorians in an irregular situation willing to return to the country. And aboard the Maria Galante, the ship in charge of rotations between the two islands, "there were only voluntary departures" Wednesday, assured AFP the spokesman of the Comorian government, Houmed Msaidie.

Operation Wuambushu, denounced as "brutal", "anti-poor" and violating the rights of migrants by many associations, nevertheless raises a lot of hope among the Mahoran population, exasperated by the delinquency that explodes on the island. For more than ten days, residents, gathered in groups of citizens, have been demonstrating almost daily. They also block many health centers such as the hospital of Mamoudzou or that of Dzoumogné, in the north of Mayotte.

A few dozen members of these collectives were present in Daoudzi at the time of boarding the Maria Galanta to demand a stronger resumption of expulsions. "There are only about twenty on board, but this is already a start," said Safina Soula, president of the Mayotte 2018 citizens' collective.

(With AFP

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Read on on the same topics:

• Mayotte
• Immigration
• Gerald Darmanin