In Mayotte, the place reconstruction is lengthy overdue, Emmanuel Macron broadcasts a “refoundation” plan of greater than 3 billion euros | EUROtoday

Emmanuel Macron arrived on Monday April 21 in Mayotte, the primary stage of a 5 -day tour within the Indian Ocean. Four months after the devastating passage of the Cyclone Chido, the top of state offered a plan of “Refoundation” of the archipelago, which goals to strengthen the battle in opposition to unlawful immigration, unlawful habitat and insecurity, and to assist the native economic system. This will embrace an envelope of greater than 3 billion euros over six years, he introduced.

This funding of three.2 billion euros deliberate between 2025 and 2031, in line with the Elysée, “Aura vocation, with review clauses, to be regularly reviewed”added the top of state in a speech. It will embrace “National funds”but in addition “European funds”And “The international donors we want to mobilize”. “Mayotte has a future in this region if we put the means there”he mentioned within the face of elected officers.

After his arrival Monday at 8:15 am (7:15 a.m. in Paris) in Mamoudzou, the top of state notably visited a hospital heart on this locality, and went to Tsingoni, within the west of the island. He is accompanied by Manuel Valls (Minister of Overseas), Annie Genevard (Agriculture), Yannick Neuder (Health) and Thani Mohamed Soilihi (Francophonie).

“I want to pay tribute to the strength of resistance of all the Mahorais peoplethe President of the Republic told the press on the airport tarmac. We responded to the extreme emergency. Now, I’m here to make the observation of what is well done, which is not well enough, to give an accelerator. »»

The plan of “Refoundation”expected for years, must be ratified in the evening on Monday by a special ministers’ council which he will chase in videoconferencing since the plane which will lead him from Mayotte to Reunion, the second stage of his five -day tour in the Indian Ocean. The executive wishes to adopt this bill by parliament by the summer. “I’m lucid, it’s not a legislation that can settle the state of affairs”he explained on Monday. “It is a will of each second (…) to unravel the essential issues “ which is confronted with the archipelago. “We have massive French corporations that can deploy” In Mayotte, he promised.

An emergency law, intended to facilitate the reconstruction of Mayotte through softenings to town planning and public order rules, was already adopted in February, two months after the passage of the cyclone which left 40 dead and caused 3.5 billion euros in damage.

French ambitions

During this tour, Mr. Macron intends to reaffirm the French ambitions of regional power and a desire for reinforced cooperation with the Southwest States of the Indian Ocean. After stages in Mayotte and Reunion, the two departments at the forefront of the French presence in this area, he will go to Madagascar and Mauritius. On Thursday, he will participate in Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital, in the fifth summit of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI), which brings together five island states (Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles, France under the meeting).

Thanks to its multiple islands and islets through the oceans, France has the second maritime space in the world (10 million square kilometers), including 27 % in this part of the globe. With the Eparses Islands (Tromelin, Glorious, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas Da India), almost uninhabited “confetti” – not counting Mayotte, to the north – it controls more than half of the surface of the Mozambique canal, once again a strategic crossroads of international maritime transport. It also has military means, including a naval base in Reunion, and significant economic ones compared to resident countries.

But Madagascar claims sovereignty over the Epars Islands as well as the Comoros on Mayotte, who detached from it during their independence, in 1975, to remain French. Mauritius, for its part, claims Tromelin north of Reunion.

The Mozambique canal contains large reserves in hydrocarbon and fishery. The role of France is now disputed there by China, which invests massively in the area, in particular through the development of ports, and has a large fishing fleet. The United States, Russia and India also strengthen their presence there. Russians and Chinese have conducted military exercises with South Africa. Russia, after having tried in vain to join the Coi in 2020, supported Madagascar in its claim on the Eparses, as in the Comoros, which it got closer, for Mayotte.

Faced with these resistances, Emmanuel Macron should stick to a pragmatic line, that is to say, ask for a “Inclusion” Progressive from Mayotte to the cooperation through cooperation programs, particularly on health. Mayotte, the poorest department of France, presents enormous weaknesses, with significant migratory pressure from the Comoros and the effects of the Chido cyclone, the most devastating since ninety years, which put its economy on the ground in December.