In a column published Saturday January 5 in the newspaper Le FigaroBruno Retailleau, Manuel Valls and Sébastien Lecornu stressed the need to link the reconstruction of Mayotte after the passage of Cyclone Chido to a resolute fight against illegal immigration. “ Without migratory firmness, we will rebuild Mayotte on sand », affirmed the Ministers of the Interior, Overseas Territories and the Armed Forces, estimating that the “ migratory disorders » aggravate the suffering of the local population. “ For too long, our Mahorese compatriots have been experiencing the disastrous consequences of migratory chaos on a daily basis, whether security, health or social, despite a strengthening of the resources mobilized since the launch of Operation Shikandhra in 2018. », noted the members of the Bayrou government.
The trio of ministers also called in this forum that, although the humanitarian situation is a priority, this “ migratory chaos » continues to weigh heavily on public services (school, hospital and even access to water). They drew up an alarming observation: the Mahorais population has multiplied by five in 20 years, with a quarter of it in an irregular situation: “ One in two residents is not French. »
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Increase the number of removals
In response to the emergency situation, the government deployed reinforced resources to combat illegal immigration. “ Civil and military drone systems, radars and surveillance aircraft » were put in place to make up for the material losses caused by the cyclone. Since December 22, these measures have made it possible to arrest 170 illegal aliens and carry out 130 removals. The executive is now committed to maintaining these measures as long as the situation requires it, with the objective of increasing removals from 25,000 to 35,000 people.
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However, according to Bruno Retailleau, Sébastien Lecornu and Manuel Valls, legislative measures are now essential to address the roots of the migration problem. They discuss the need to reexamine land law in Mayotte, while proposing to tighten the rules for access to French nationality, to extend assistance for voluntary return and to strengthen readmission agreements with countries of origin. . The ministers insist on the urgency of action to make Mayotte viable in the long term and guarantee the security of the Mahorais, who are demanding strong political action to regulate immigration.
