French authorities begin demolition of vast Mayotte shantytown

Authorities on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte have begun demolishing homes in a large slum in an operation to tackle illegal migration, delinquancy and poor housing.

The demolition of the shantytown Talus 2 in Majikavo, in the north-east of Mayotte began early on 22 May, as part of the Wuambushu operation. © Lola Fourmy/RFI

France began deploying hundreds of police officers and gendarmes in Mayotte – the country's poorest department – in April as part of a major security operation known as Wuambushu ("Take Back" in the local language).

On Monday morning, diggers finally began destroying the sheet-metal shacks in the Talus 2 slum in Majicavo in the north-east of the island. 

The electricity and water supply was cut off.

Then gendarmes wielding crowbars entered the homes known as "banga" to check no one was inside before the destruction began, RFI's correspondent Lola Fourmy reported. 

There were a few tense exchanges between police and young migrants during the night, but no serious incidents Fourmy said.

The operation is due to last all week, according to the local prefecture.

A woman stands at the doorstep of a house in a shantytown of "Talus 2" district in Koungou before its demolition. AFP - PHILIPPE LOPEZ

Some 135 dwellings will be razed out of around 1,000 sub-standard homes slated for destruction on Mayotte.

The demolition of Talus 2 was originally scheduled to take place on April 25 but was suspended by a court decision.

• France's Mayotte verges on 'insurrection' as court stops slum clearing

Two subsequent legal rulings then authorised the French state to proceed.

'Painful' to watch

The majority of the 400 inhabitants of the shanty town left on Sunday, collecting whatever belongings they could.

Sophia chose to stay and watch her home disappear. 

"I want to stay and watch through to the end even if it's painful," she told RFI.

Associations have denounced Wuambushu as a "brutal" measure violating the rights of migrants, but local elected officials and many residents have supported it.

The operation initially triggered clashes between youths and security forces in Mayotte and fuelled political tensions with the neighbouring archipelago of Comoros, where most of the French island's undocumented migrants come from.

• Money from France will not help Comoros swallow the Wuambushu pill

Out of Mayotte's estimated 350,000 residents, half do not possess French nationality.

Mayotte began expelling undocumented Comorans once more on Wednesday when it reopened ferry links with the Comoran island of Anjouan.