Gérald Darmanin confirmed Thursday evening an upcoming operation against delinquency and illegal immigration in Mayotte, already widely publicized in the media for several weeks, but without giving a launch date, in an interview posted on the website of the Figaro.
This is the first time that the Minister of the Interior has spoken publicly on the subject since the revelations of the chained duck in February. Gérald Darmanin confirmed the dispatch in recent days to the archipelago of “four squadrons of mobile gendarmes, police officers from the CRS-8, specialists in the fight against urban violence, in total 510 members of the police” .
But he does not comment on a start date for the engagement of these forces in the archipelago, the 101st French department located halfway between Madagascar and Africa. “Public order operations in Mayotte are every day,” he sweeps. On the justice side, “six magistrates and seven clerks, as well as fifteen agents of the Judicial Protection of Youth (PJJ)”, were dispatched.
“Wuambushu”
Baptized “Wuambushu”, which can mean “recovery” in Mahoran as “itchy hair”, the operation was validated by Emmanuel Macron in the defense council and should begin next week, according to a source close to the file. It should last at least two months, according to information obtained by AFP from a close source. Thanks to these reinforcements, “we are going to redouble our activity” against local delinquency, indicates the minister. In total, “about forty organized criminal gangs” have been identified in Mayotte, he said.
The objective is also to expel illegal migrants, mostly from the neighboring archipelago of the Comoros, settled in particularly unhealthy neighborhoods, called “bangas”. “We will take the necessary time” for the destruction of these habitats, “always with the authorization of the judge, because it goes without saying that we relocate people in accordance with the law”, assured Gérald Darmanin.
Several associations, including the League for Human Rights (LDH), expressed concern in a joint press release that “France thus places minors in situations of intolerable vulnerability and danger”. Comorian President Azali Assoumani, for his part, told AFP that he hoped “that the operation will be canceled”, acknowledging “not having the means to stop (it) by force”.
Intense negotiations have taken place in recent weeks between Moroni and Paris, raising the possibility of a last-minute agreement.