The French president Emmanuel Macrondealing with the storm at home, found himself slipping on the Cyclone Chido on that day Mayottethe island of Comoros, overseas department of Republic starting from 2011. The island, since time immemorial, has been torn apart by social conflicts linked to the precarious conditions of the area, but also to the continuous clandestine migratory flows, which unbalance the social fabric of the Mozambique channel.
The clash with the locals
The French president went to the island, devastated by the cyclone last weekend, but he found a group of people waiting for him who welcomed him warmly. boos and calls for resignation. “If it weren't for France, you would be in 10,000 times more trouble“, the reply to the protesters, taken from a video released by the French media. “Today you come to tell us that everything is fine when everything is bad“, the words of an inhabitant of the island to the president. “Cwe will mourn the dead in the slums. I don't agree that everything is fine“. Macron impatiently defended the Paris line, reiterating that he never said that “everything is fine“.
So, he went on the attack, making things worse:“Why do you make me say this? Everyone's fighting, you've been through something terrible. Don't pit people against each other! If you pit people against each other, we're screwed! Because you're happy to be in France !“, continued the president. “If it wasn't France, you'd be in the shit 10,000 times! There is no place in the Indian Ocean where we help people so much.” “Everyone must respect each other! We will last until the end if we are a team!“, added Macron.
Discontent in Mayotte
The president left the French archipelago in Southern Italy, after having noted the difficulties of the inhabitants, exasperated and overwhelmed by the damage caused by Chido. “We are one nation” wrote the Head of State on of desolation, with poor villages in ruins and people traumatized by what happened.
Thursday's particularly tense scenes underlined the discontent many residents of the Indian Ocean archipelago feel towards their government, some 8,000 kilometers away in Paris. The storm caused a unknown number of deathsas many people ignored the warnings, thinking the storm wouldn't be that severe. Authorities said there could be many deaths, but the official toll rose to 35 this morning. In the morning, Macron visited a neighborhood of Tsingoni, on the main island, where people remained almost a week after the storm: “We want water, we want water”, they shouted at him. Others, however, offered him a warmer welcome, posing for selfies with the French leader and showing him their children.
The number of deaths is still uncertain
The evening before, Macron was greeted by boos from dozens of residents On the waterthe small nearby island that “travels” in tandem with Mayotte. As people expressed frustration at the slow pace of aid, Macron took a microphone and began to raise his voice: “I had nothing to do with the cyclone, you can blame me, it wasn't me!“. Soon he burst out, railing against the small crowd around him.
In further evidence of a further emergency, a woman working with local authorities in the capital of Mayotte told theAssociated Press that many deaths recorded by officials in the field have not yet been published in the official counts.
The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said most of the dead could be illegal immigrants – who come here from the rest of the Comoros and the African Great Lakes region – and who live on the hills in a real secondary slum. Mayotte is home to 320,000 residents and an estimated 60 to 100 thousand immigrants.
Related News :