“I cannot allow it to be said” that “the State has resigned here”; France has not abandoned Mayotte. Indeed, it is committed to reviving the archipelago with aid, subsidies and a general restructuring of the overseas territory, hit hard by Cyclone Chido in recent days.
These, in short, are the intentions of French President Emmanuel Macron, who is visiting the devastated territory on Thursday. The first contributions from the continent were seen immediately: together with the president, four tons of food and health aid arrived on the island, several nurses and other rescuers will arrive. Then on Friday, a field hospital will be set up to help the population and distribute other aid. Furthermore, to protect citizens, Paris has requested 10,000 tents and emergency shelters from the European mechanism, as stated by the French Foreign Minister.
The president also announced a “compensation fund” to help those who are uninsured.
And after the aid, it will be time to rebuild. “Everyone has to accept that in terms of skills and rules things have to change,” he told reporters while visiting the capital Mamoudzou. We must “intensify the fight against illegal immigration, while obviously re-establishing schools, rebuilding homes and hospitals”.
Macron later acknowledged that many deaths went unreported. He said phone services would be repaired “in the next few days” so people could report their missing loved ones.
French authorities said at least 31 people died and more than 1,500 were injured, more than 200 of them seriously. But it is feared that hundreds or even thousands of people have died.
The president will stop in Mayotte overnight and on Friday morning will visit a slum area badly hit by the cyclone.
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