Green light for a major “decasing” and resumption of the link to the Comoros

Operation Wuambushu could be relaunched in the coming days in Mayotte, where justice cleared the way on Wednesday for the destruction of a major slum and the maritime link with the Comoros has resumed, making evictions to the nearby archipelago again possible. .

In a judgment consulted by AFP, the Mayotte appeals chamber ruled in favor of the State in its desire to demolish the unsanitary habitat of Talus 2, an informal neighborhood in the town of Koungou (north-east) where live a hundred families.

On April 24, as a series of police interventions began under the name of Wuambushu (“recovery” in Mahorais) on this French island in the Indian Ocean, the Mamoudzou judicial court, seized in an emergency, had suspended the slum evacuation.

“Decasing” in the coming days

The judge in chambers had considered that the demolition of the targeted habitats would “endanger the safety” of the other inhabitants, whose dwellings would be weakened. The Mayotte Appeals Chamber overturned this order on Wednesday, judging “that apart from their status as occupiers”, the applicants had not “justified any element which makes it possible to establish the reality of the right of ownership that ‘they feel achieved’.

The chamber also considers that this dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the administrative court, which had already ruled in favor of the prefecture on May 13. The appeal court also “notes” “the non-respect of the rights of the defense, that is to say of the State”, welcomed the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on Twitter.

“Our determined action to destroy unworthy habitat in Mayotte will therefore be able to resume,” he added. The “unpacking” operation, in other words the destruction of the sheet metal boxes of Talus 2, will take place “in the coming days”, said those around him.

Operation “anti-poor”, say the opponents

Wuambushu aims to dislodge irregular migrants, mostly from neighboring Comoros, from the insanitary slums of Mayotte. The operation is denounced as “brutal”, “anti-poor” and violating the rights of migrants by a number of associations, but supported by elected officials and many inhabitants of the island, the poorest department in France.

“The “reclaiming of land and destruction of unworthy habitat” component of Operation Wuambushu will finally be able to deploy”, rejoiced MP LR Mansour Kamardine in a press release, calling “the government to implement it quickly and fully”.

This parliamentarian had sharply criticized the order taken on April 24 by the president of the Mamoudzou judicial court, denouncing her “course of strong commitment within the Syndicat de la magistrature”, an organization classified on the left.

The Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) had replied in a rare clarification, considering that “the impartiality of a magistrate” could not be called into question “on the sole ground” of his membership of a union.

” It’s a beginning “

The judgment of the Appeals Chamber comes on the day of the resumption, eagerly awaited by the French authorities, of the maritime link between Mayotte and the Comoros, after more than three weeks of suspension.

According to the Collective of Citizens of Mayotte, about twenty Comorians in an irregular situation on French territory boarded the ferry Maria Galanta and joined the Comorian island of Anjouan. “There are only about twenty on board, but it’s already a start”, rejoiced with AFP Safina Soula, the president of the collective, present on the quay of Dzaoudzi to ensure the departure of the ship.

Moroni’s government had warned Monday that it would only welcome Comorians in an irregular situation who volunteered to return to the country, after several weeks of a showdown with Paris over the issue of the return of undocumented migrants.

“There were only voluntary departures” on Wednesday, Comorian government spokesman Houmed Msaidie told AFP. The Collective of Citizens of Mayotte had denounced the refusal of the Comorian authorities to accept their deported nationals by calling for the blocking, for two weeks, of access to the Mamoudzou Hospital Center and other health establishments on the island.

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