In Mayotte, the 101st French department, the situation is once again extremely tense. The violence has reached a particular degree of horror in recent weeks with the machete murder of a young singer from Kawéni, one of the largest slums on the island. It was followed by reprisals between rival gangs from different villages: roadblocks, school buses being stoned, intrusions by hooded young people into several high schools. The arrival of ten RAID police officers a week ago only partially calmed the situation and the consequences of this violence are lasting.
with our correspondent in Mamoudzou, Lola Fourmy
At the start of the rainy season, you have to face a road full of holes in the middle of a slum in Passamainty to discover L’EffetMer, the restaurant of Gaël and his wife. ” We have a view of the lagoon and then of the slum of Tsoundzou, a beautiful image of Mayotte… directly the view of its contrasts”.
A contrast also between their passion for Mayotte culture, transcribed in the kitchen, and the violence of an increasingly degraded environment: “ Riots actually all around the restaurant. Since we’re on the hill, it’s kind of their HQ for young people. We see them preparing their pebbles, their pieces of wood. In fact, they set up ambushes for the police. They go all around the restaurant with on one side the flash-balls with the police and on the other side the pebbles. So, we get all this in the restaurant. At one point, we said ‘stop’”.
In Passamainty, Gael and his wife had a restaurant with a breathtaking view. Because of the stones around their homes, tear gas canisters arriving inside and roadblocks blocking the road, they are forced to close & will lose everything they had invested. pic.twitter.com/ZU3VanhlpX
— Lola Fourmy (@LolaFourmy) December 2, 2022
► Also to listen : in Mayotte, “We want very strong acts on the ground”
After two and a half years, it’s closing and 130,000 euros lost. Seven jobs will disappear, all held by residents of the neighborhood. This is the case of Abdou Ayou, a Comorian chef: ” I am really traumatized, but I will hold on and look for another restaurant to work in”. The restaurant managers are preparing to leave the island. Like them, many Mahorais would now like to leave.
Faced with this situation, the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin announced that he would go to Mayotte on December 31 to be alongside the Mahorais and the police.
► Read also : for Estelle Youssoufa: “Mayotte has been calling for help for years”