A row has erupted between France and the Comoros after Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau accused Comoran officials of facilitating illegal immigration to Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. Mayotte is struggling to recover from Cyclone Chido, which devastated shanty towns housing many undocumented families.
Speaking on BFMTV, Retailleau said France needed to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration as part of its reconstruction of the archipelago – including using drones to stop boats carrying migrants from Comoros to Mayotte.
"We know very well that there is a Comoran policy of letting people go," Retailleau said.
"There is a form – the word is undoubtedly too strong – of hybrid warfare, if I dare say so, by pushing populations towards Mayotte to create a kind of illegal occupation.
"We have to change the rules."
Assessing the extent of the disaster has been complicated by the flow of irregular immigration to Mayotte, especially from Comoros to the north. This means much of the population is unregistered.
Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants. However, authorities estimate the actual figure is between 100,000 to 200,000 higher when taking into account undocumented migrants.
Reports suggest that many undocumented migrants avoided shelters during the cyclone, fearing the call to safety was a trap.
Officials warn the death toll from the most destructive storm in living memory could reach hundreds – possibly thousands.
France pledges full crisis response as Macron visits cyclone-ravaged Mayotte
Comoran backlash
Retailleau's suggestion of using "modern tools" such as drones to curb illegal immigration drew sharp criticism from Moroni, the Comoran capital.
"You can't be one of the top ministers in a republic like France and make such comments in a period of mourning," Hamada Madi Boléro, diplomatic adviser to President Azali Assoumani, told RFI.
"You don't try to think of the dead as being of a particular nationality or colour. It's just not done."
Boléro said France alone was responsible for managing Mayotte, and had done so since 1975.
"I don't know by what magic they want to manage a territory while blaming others elsewhere for whatever happens there," he said.
Mayotte is the only island in the Comoros archipelago that chose to remain part of France in a 1974 referendum.
Half a century later, it is France’s poorest administrative region. However, its French infrastructure – including schools, a hospital and welfare systems – makes it attractive to migrants from neighbouring islands.
"We have a lot of questions to ask, but we can't ask them now because, quite simply, this is a period of mourning," Bolero said.
"We need to take stock. We are waiting for the managers of this island to tell us how many people were injured and how many died."
