WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, OCL CA #338 - A review of Operation Wuambushu (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Operation Wuambushu ("resumption" in Mahorais, "kill them" in old Bantu)

is a French military-police operation, planned and announced after the
end of Ramadan and carried out in Mayotte since April 24, 2023, aimed at
expelling illegal aliens, to destroy the shanty towns and to fight
against crime on the island. ---- Gérald Darmanin evokes the threat of
"radical Islamism, particularly towards Mayotte". "We are in Mayotte,
near the African Great Lakes, which is threatened by radical Islamism.
The intelligence notes tell us of the desire for expansion of radical
Islamism, particularly towards Mayotte, a land of moderate Islam.»
"Clearly, we must avoid the Islamist attack of tomorrow and put an end
to the development of gangs and their criminal organization. We have
already created the Raid antenna and strengthened the GIGN antenna. It
is therefore a resolute and firm action.»

The State had announced large figures for this operation: 1,000
destruction of "bangas" ("unsanitary huts", a cleaning which therefore
openly targets those from other islands in the Archipelago) and 10,000
returned to the border were to have place. This operation - which
mobilizes 1,800 police officers and gendarmes, including hundreds of
reinforcements from mainland France (four squadrons of mobile gendarmes,
police officers from the CRS-8, specialists in the fight against urban
violence, a total of 510 members of the forces of the order) - aims to
empty the neighborhoods of illegal immigrants and to increase the
arrests of young people responsible for stones, thefts or attacks in the
archipelago "plagued by violence" according to its inhabitants.

 From the first week, Operation Wuambushu suffered several setbacks.
First there was this first demolition, planned in the Talus 2 district
in Majicavo (north of Mamoudzou), but canceled by the courts. "The
destruction of the applicants' homes, a consequence of the
administration's decision, is manifestly irregular," pointed out the
judge in her order, noting an "assault" and explaining that the
demolition operation could have a "certain impact on the safety" of
residents.

Then there was the famous boat called Maria Galanta, supposed to
transport people in an irregular situation from administrative detention
centers (CRA) to the Comoros. But he was forced to turn back before even
passing French territorial waters because the Comorian ports kept their
doors closed. While Operation Wuambushu was to allow massive expulsions
of Comorians based in Mayotte sometimes for decades - between 70 and 80
people are already expelled every day on average throughout the year -
these multiple These developments are the sign of a bitter failure for
the prefectural authorities and the Ministry of the Interior.

To give impetus to Operation Wuambushu and try to reassure, early in the
morning of Thursday, a demolition of permanent houses was launched in
Longoni, north of Mayotte, then announced with great fanfare by the
prefect of Mayotte, Thierry Suquet. Yes, but here it is: this demolition
had nothing to do with Wuambushu, and the homes concerned had already
been empty for some time. "There is no removal, no deportation against a
backdrop of diplomatic mess with the Comoros, no particular impact on
the arrests despite what Darmanin says.»
Operation Wuambushu was planned to last two months, but was finally
extended. At the end of June, the objective increases to 1,250
destructions by the end of the year.

There are no official statistics that support the fallacious assertions
of Mahorais elected officials who attribute this violence exclusively to
young people from populations coming from the Union of the Comoros. This
youth responsible for delinquency and riots on public roads is made up
of a majority of young people without families, raised on the streets -
their parents being expelled - but others come from poor Mahorese
families. Prefect Thierry Suquet recognized that "Mayotte is once again
experiencing troubled and violent periods and times", announcing police
reinforcements promised by the Ministry of the Interior. According to
the gendarmerie, a new squadron of 70 soldiers must come to reinforce
the 350 gendarmes on site. According to the territorial director of the
national police in Mayotte, "These eruptions of violence happen
regularly", and he is also asking for new reinforcements to support his
750 police officers.

If we only look at the figures, Wuambushu has not met its objectives in
the fight against illegal immigration. According to Matignon, 22,000
people were deported to the Comoros at the beginning of December 2023.
However, this was the primary argument of the operation, Mayotte
attracting thousands of migrants arriving by sea each year, mainly from
the neighboring Comorian island of Anjouan. According to the sub-prefect
in charge of illegal immigration, Frédéric Sautron, "25,380 people had
been removed" from the territory in 2022. According to a police officer
from the administrative detention center (CRA) "The problem is
diplomatic, we know very well that these people come back, sometimes
under another identity. We apply the policy of numbers. But that's no
use, we have to find an agreement with the Comoros.»

This was the other priority objective of Operation Wuambushu: to destroy
the unsanitary bangas organized in shantytowns, which have multiplied in
Mayotte and are sometimes threatened by landslides. With the last huts
destroyed, in Mtsamoudou[southeast]in November, only 700 bangas were
destroyed. In 2021, "1,600 sheet metal huts had been destroyed,"
indicates the representative of the Human Rights League (LDH) in
Mayotte, who adds that the department is hampered by a glaring lack of
rehousing solutions and that "the displaced families, who find
themselves on the street, inevitably rebuild elsewhere." In total, "30%
of housing in Mayotte is informal," says Matignon.

France is losing its footing in its African pre-square. It is
nevertheless its preponderant African presence which until now gave it a
major place in the global political scene, apart from nuclear deterrence
and its right of veto in the Security Council. Mayotte, which has
remained a thorn in France's side since 1975, can hurt it in today's
context.

Camille, January 17, 2024

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4108
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