In Comoro, migrants are suspended after the suspension of land rights in Mayotte

Paris recently announced a controversial move aimed at ending land rights on the French island of Mayotte in an attempt to stem the tide of migrants, especially from neighboring Comoro. Africans trying to secretly reach the French territory of Mayotte. But these days, all boats are locked: France has announced a new crackdown on illegal migration. Comoro and other African countries.

Located in the mountains of the Comoro Island of Anjouan, the village of Kangani is by the sea and some 70 kilometers from the 101st department of France. The island with its schools and hospitals caters to the majority of the people of Comoros, even if the area is the poorest in France. and called ‘kwassa-kwassas’. The entire village economy revolves around this dangerous route and business is done in euro notes.

But for weeks, residents angered by insecurity and illegal immigration have been setting up roadblocks in Mayotte, and Paris recently announced a complex measure aimed at removing land rights in the island to stop the wave of immigrants. Since then, the winding streets of Kangani have entered a state of calm.

‘The restrictions affect us all, there are no more kwassa-kwassa boats leaving to wait for normalcy to return,’ laments Chadhuli Tafsir, a thirty-year-old man from Kangani.. ‘Abolition of land rights is a bad idea for everyone,’ he insists, continuing a heated debate with the men gathered in the village square.

Sometimes you have to wait several days to try to cross the sea. The boats often capsize and many migrants have disappeared in the sea between Comoros and France. Maybe thousands, there are no official figures.

‘No one would take the risk of going to Mayotte but we have no choice. Traveling by sea is our only option,’ says Jeansi in a despairing voice, who is waiting for the second voyage of the ship to France.