Baptized “Wuambushu”, the “secret” operation is no longer so: the government is preparing to trigger in the coming days a series of police interventions against delinquency and illegal immigration in Mayotte, by carrying out expulsions massive numbers of illegal immigrants and the destruction of slums.
Revealed at the end of February by Le Canard enchaîné, the “Wuambushu” operation – which can mean “recovery” as “itchy hair” in Mayotte – had so far not been formalized by the government. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, confirmed Friday in an interview with Figaro, then on Franceinfo, the holding of a “long-term” operation.
Mr. Darmanin denied a launch on Monday and for a period of two months, advanced by the press. “There is not a moment when we start it and a moment when we finish it,” he added, even claiming that the operation had “already begun”. “There are 1,800 police and gendarmes right now in Mayotte doing police operations, putting an end to arms trafficking, putting an end to criminal gangs,” he said.
In total, more than 2,500 personnel (law enforcement, regional health agency, justice, health reserve) are mobilized, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Mayotte, which became the 101st French department in 2011, attracts thousands of migrants every year, arriving by sea in “kwassa-kwassa”, makeshift boats, from the neighboring Comorian island of Anjouan, but also from Africa. of the Great Lakes and increasingly of Madagascar. Nearly half of the estimated 350,000 inhabitants of Mayotte do not have French nationality, according to INSEE, but a third of foreigners were born on the island.
Comoros favors “dialogue”
These illegal migrants, settled in particularly unsanitary shantytowns, “bangas” prey to violence and trafficking, live for the most part quietly on the island, occupying small jobs. Minors are educated. But they are also accused by the population and elected officials of unbalancing the island’s few infrastructures and resources and of feeding an “outstanding” rate of delinquency.
Several so-called “decasing” operations, sometimes carried out by the inhabitants of the island themselves formed into militias, have already taken place since 2016.
Mr. Darmanin said he hoped for the destruction of “1,000 bangas within two months”. “We will take the necessary time (…), always with the authorization of the judge, because it goes without saying that we relocate people in accordance with the law,” he said.
Several organizations, including the League for Human Rights, have expressed concern that “France is placing minors in situations of intolerable vulnerability and danger”. The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) asked the Ministry of the Interior to abandon the operation, given the risks of “worsening fractures and social tensions” in Mayotte and “undermining the respect for the fundamental rights of foreigners”. “The actions announced (…) particularly worry me”, also declared the Defender of Rights, Claire Hédon, who announced the presence of four of her delegates on site.
Comorian President Azali Assoumani said on Saturday that he favored “dialogue” with Paris on the thorny issue of the return of Comorian migrants present illegally in Mayotte.
On Friday, Moroni government spokesman Houmed Msaidie told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that “Comoros does not intend to welcome expellees from the [“Wuambushu”] operation”. “My government has made its position clear, it will not accept expulsions,” Comorian Interior Minister Fakridine Mahamoud said on Saturday, interviewed by AFP. Mr. Mahamoud, however, said that he was continuing discussions with France and had spoken with Mr. Darmanin the day before: “I had a good discussion with my French counterpart. At this stage, we cannot speak of an agreement. »
The Comoros pledged in an agreement signed in 2019 to “cooperate” with Paris on immigration issues in exchange for development aid of 150 million euros.
