The resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, affirmed this Wednesday, December 18 on RMC-BFMTV that “of course”, it is the “time” to talk about the migration issue in Mayotte, affected by a deadly cyclone.
The resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, believes that “of course”, it is the “time” to talk about the migration issue in Mayotte. The Mayotte archipelago, hit by a devastating cyclone, cannot be rebuilt “without addressing the migration issue”, Bruno Retailleau said on Tuesday, December 17, calling for “legislation” on this subject.
“The State has been mobilized from the start to help the victims and prevent other crises from adding to the misfortune, but we must already think about the day after,” he wrote on his X account.
A position which sparked strong reactions on the left. “The Mahoraises are counting their deaths, and the Minister of the Interior finds nothing better to do than to sink into pure ignominy,” the president of the La France insoumise (LFI) group Mathilde Panot castigated on X . The first secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Olivier Faure, described the resigning minister as “obsessively indecent and inconsistent” on the same social network.
“Uncontrolled” immigration
Bruno Retailleau responded to these criticisms on RMC-BFMTV this Wednesday. “We left the Mahorais alone to face their misfortune” with “uncontrolled” immigration, judged the resigning Minister of the Interior.
“The toll that we will see in a few days will be very heavy. It will not be very heavy where there were permanent homes” but in the “slums”, he justified, calling for “to be much harsher towards the Comoros”, a neighboring archipelago of Mayotte from which many migrants arrive. To “rebuild” the island, “we will no longer be able to do things as before” in terms of immigration, added the resigning minister.
The situation remains very difficult in the archipelago, where according to a still very provisional assessment the passage of Cyclone Chido left 22 dead and 1,373 injured, according to figures communicated Tuesday by the Ministry of the Interior. Bruno Retailleau said on Wednesday he feared a “far too heavy” toll in the face of the “colossal” damage observed on the island.
