Gérald Darmanin and the mayor of Kani-Kéli, Abdou Rachadi, inaugurate a pontoon in Kani-Kéli, south of Grande-Terre in Mayotte, on December 31, 2022. GREGOIRE MEROT / AFP
“On this New Year’s Day, it is important to say that Mayotte is not just about security and immigration, it is an absolutely magnificent island that undoubtedly has no comparable economic and tourist potential “, says Gérald Darmanin, Sunday January 1 , in Kani-Kéli, in the extreme south of Grande-Terre. A few meters from the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, a floating pontoon flies towards the lagoon. It should allow local fishermen to get their cargo ashore more easily. Above all, it must offer border police a new projection screen, while migrant smugglers, mainly from neighboring Comoros, regularly land in the area.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Social crisis in Mayotte: “We are not French here”
Then a narrow strip of metal and plastic that sways with the steps of the officers and the press, a pontoon that stops where the sea is deeper. Allegory of two days in the Mayotte country, during which the minister Darmanin will have tried to assert himself as a man of overseas territories, while the island has been living at the rhythm of violence for several months. A balancing act, because the costume of “France’s first policeman” sticks to his skin.
Gérald Darmanin therefore boards a border police interceptor to test the effectiveness of a new generation drone capable of recovering in the water and detecting boats five kilometers away. The new boats have arrived. Radar devices are installed, specialized investigative teams are formed to take action against secret networks. The report refers to the announcements made in August during the visit of the Minister of the Interior, who was then accompanied by Jean-François Carenco, the Minister Delegated for Overseas.
“Fear has switched sides”
But Mr Darmanin intends to go further and propose “an extremely important paradigm shift” on the migration issue in Mayotte. According to the minister, it will be a law, which is why the next “Asylum and Immigration Law” will not contain specific provisions for the territory. It will then be up to Emmanuel Macron to decide on the issue “in a few weeks”, especially with regard to a possible and new exception to the “law of the land”. Regarding the policy of destroying slums, the minister promises “spectacular actions” while the lack of resettlement solutions prevents the prefecture from being stuck in front of the law.
You still have 50.31% of this article to read. The following is for subscribers only.