In an effort to quell social unrest on the Indian Ocean island, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has taken a tough stance and ordered local authorities in the overseas territory of Mayotte to deport undocumented migrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo back to their home country.
As Paris looks to crack down on irregular immigration, the interior minister of France announced on Wednesday that he had given the go-ahead for officials in the French overseas department of Mayotte to set up flights for African migrants to be deported.
According to French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, “restoring order” is his top priority. “From October, the prefect of Mayotte… will arrange group flights to escort illegal immigrants back to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he stated.
Four of these flights had already been scheduled since February, according to a team member of Retailleau who spoke with AFP; “at least three” more were scheduled for October in order to assist in clearing Mayotte’s detention facilities.
“Excellent” cooperation was shown with the DR Congolese authorities regarding the matter, the team member continued.
The Most Vulnerable Foreign Department Is Mayotte
The poorest French department, Mayotte, is an island in the Indian Ocean that has long suffered from social unrest and a dire immigration crisis brought on by thousands of people fleeing poverty and corruption on the African mainland.
An estimated 320,000 people live in Mayotte, with thousands more coming each year from the neighboring Comoros archipelago or mainland Africa. Most of these migrants arrive in small “kwassa kwassa” boats.
Many residents have complained about crime and poverty, which has led to significant tensions and protests.
The French government sent out 2,000 police and military personnel last year to crush violent gangs, demolish shantytowns, and conduct mass expulsions.
However, the operation increased worries about abuse and heightened hostilities between locals and immigrants from Comoros, a neighboring country. Deep disparities between Mayotte and the rest of France, tensions over the island’s status, and poverty among both communities are further negative effects of the circumstance.
The controversial decision to launch the operation was made in response to anti-migrant collectives taking matters into their own hands on the volcanic island, north of Madagascar, which is well-known for its gorgeous lagoon and plantations of vanilla and ylang-ylang herbs.
These groups regularly blocked hospitals that treated foreign patients, interfered with the shipment of goods and medications to Comoros, and threatened to demolish slums if the authorities didn’t arrive first.
Unusually for France, teenage gangs used firearms in their fighting. Since then, attempts have been made by police and military forces to maintain control over Mayotte.
Security Cooperation Is Also Heightened
Retailleau also declared bilateral security agreements to “stop the influx” of migrants with Rwanda and Burundi, two nations in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
Hardline conservative Retailleau, whose appointment recently reflects the rightward shift in French politics, has stated that he does not believe immigration offers France “an opportunity” and that he will use “all levers at our disposal” to control it.
In an interview that was published on Wednesday, he said to the French daily Le Figaro, “My only obsession is to be useful to France.” “That’s the only thing that matters to me.”
The Continental Country Is Also Having Problems
Immigration to France increased dramatically in 2023, mostly as a result of new workers, students, and refugees arriving. Annual estimates released by the interior ministry on Thursday, January 25, show that in 2022, more than 320,000 non-European foreign nationals were granted first-time residency permits, an increase of 1.4% from the previous year.
“This level is unprecedented. “[Population movements] have picked up again in our world,” said Eric Jalon, head of France’s central administration responsible for overseeing foreign nationals, during a press conference. According to him, the previous year “confirms the change in the structure of legal migrations.” This year, these numbers will come under even more scrutiny because on the same day that the government’s immigration law was released, the French Constitutional Council released a decision in which it rejected a significant portion of the text.For the second year in a row, students make up the largest group of legal migrants with over 100,000 residence permits. This is more than family reunification, which accounted for 91,000 first-time permits, a 5% decrease from the previous year. Over 54,000 permits were issued due to economic immigration, a 5% increase from the previous year. This category surpassed immigration for humanitarian purposes for the second year in a row; however, immigration for humanitarian purposes increased by 15%, with nearly 48,000 permits being granted, mostly to refugees.
The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, stated in a video uploaded to social media on Thursday that “it’s the will of the president of the Republic to favor economic immigration […] and to limit family immigration.” Chinese nationals hold these residency permits in fourth place, ahead of Americans, followed by Moroccans (36,240), Algerians (32,180), and Tunisians (22,400).
