Destructive Cyclone Chido unearths a rift between locals and migrants in France's Mayotte

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — When Cyclone Chido ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure, it also exposed deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population.

Thousands of people who have entered the island illegally bore the brunt of the storm that tore through the Indian Ocean archipelago — France's poorest territory. Authorities in Mayotte said many migrants avoided emergency shelters out of fear of deportation, leaving themselves and the precarious shantytowns they inhabit even more vulnerable to the devastation.

Meanwhile, anger simmered among residents who accused the government of diverting the island’s already scarce resources to migrants at their expense.

“We are the legitimate population of this island,” said Amada Salime. Standing in the rubble of his home on Saturday, he added, “If there is help from the government — water or something to eat or money to make houses — Mahorais people will not have it. Immigrants are more numerous than us, and we will be left behind.”

Mayotte, a French department located between Madagascar and mainland Africa, has a population of 320,000. French authorities have estimated another 100,000 migrants also live there, most of whom have arrived from the nearby Comoros Islands, just 70 kilometers (43 miles) away.

The island’s fragile public services, designed for a much smaller population, are buckling under the strain. According to the French statistics agency INSEE, around three-quarters of Mayotte’s population live in poverty, with a median annual disposable income just one-eighth that of the Paris metropolitan area.

“The problems of Mayotte cannot be solved without addressing illegal immigration,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during his testy visit this week, acknowledging the challenges posed by the island’s rapid population growth. “Despite the state’s investments, migratory pressure has made everything explode,” he added.

The cyclone further exacerbated the island’s issues after destroying homes, schools and infrastructure. Though the official death toll remains 35, authorities say that any estimates are likely major undercounts, with hundreds feared dead.

The migrants’ shantytowns, known as “bangas,” have long been an issue in Mayotte. “Can we solve the issue of shantytowns today? The answer is no. We will address it during the stabilization and rebuilding phase,” Macron said.

For many migrants, like Nazca Antoiy, a Comorian who has lived in Mayotte for a decade, the cyclone has heightened fears of displacement.

“I heard that people were told not to reconstruct new houses. So we need to worry about that,” she said, reflecting a widespread concern that authorities may use the disaster to expedite demolitions of informal settlements.

Such concerns are not unfounded. Last year, France launched Operation Wuambushu, a controversial campaign to demolish shantytowns and deport migrants who entered illegally. Macron hinted that similar policies could resume but stressed reconstruction efforts would take precedence.

The storm has left many residents struggling to meet basic needs.

“I can’t take it anymore. Just to have water is complicated,” said Fatima, a 46-year-old mother of five whose family has been without clean water since the storm ravaged Mayotte last weekend. Fatima, who only gave her first name because her family is known locally, also said she felt the island could not support the current population, let alone more.

Most migrants have family links in Mayotte and speak the same language. They seek a better life on the island rather than aiming to reach the European continent.

Mayotte’s geopolitical position has long made it a hotspot for migration. While the island voted to remain French in referendums held in 1974 and 1976, neighboring Comoros has never recognized its sovereignty and continues to claim the archipelago as its own. This unresolved dispute has fueled waves of migration, with thousands risking perilous sea crossings each year.

Outgoing French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau recently reignited the debate, describing the situation in Mayotte as a “war,” earlier this week. Retailleau proposed stricter measures, including using drones and naval patrols to block further arrivals. “We must be much tougher on the Comoros,” he said, accusing the neighboring government of allowing migrants to leave its shores unchecked.

Retailleau’s calls to “change the rules” include proposals to restrict birthright citizenship in Mayotte, a policy already tightened in 2018 to require proof that at least one parent had been a legal resident for more than three months. Critics argue that these measures only deepen Mayotte’s divisions without addressing the root causes of migration.

A 2023 parliamentary report cited in French media warned that the island was a “ticking time bomb,” while suggesting redistributing part of Mayotte’s migrant population to mainland France — a proposal unlikely to gain widespread support.

Adamson reported from Paris.

People line up to collect water in Barakani, Mayotte, home Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Women wait in line at a water distribution point in Mamoudzou, Mayotte, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Stampedes during three Christmas charity events across Nigeria have left at least 67 people dead in the past week, many of them children. Families are struggling during the country's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

At least 35 children were killed in southwestern Oyo state on Wednesday. And on Saturday, 22 people died in southeastern Anambra state while 10 died in the capital, Abuja, where more than 1,000 people had gathered at a church to receive clothes and food.

Here's why people in Africa's most populous country are risking their lives for holiday donations.

“There is hunger in this Nigeria. Every Nigerian needs food,” one woman, in tears, told the local Arise television after the stampede in Abuja.

The economic crisis is blamed on the government’s policies to save money and attract investors, which have contributed to pushing the inflation rate to a 28-year high of 34.6%. Meanwhile the naira currency languishes at record lows against the dollar.

At least 63% of Nigeria's more than 210 million people population is poor, according to the government's statistics office. The government has struggled to create jobs. And when people gather to protest hardship, security forces are quick to clamp down. In August, more than 20 people were shot dead by security forces during nationwide protests.

“The average Nigerian has seen food go out of their reach,” said Cheta Nwanze, managing partner at the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence research firm. In 2022, the firm found that about 97% of Nigerians spend up to 63% of their income on food, but that share must have grown since then, he said.

Some of those who died in Abuja had waited overnight outside the church in cold weather for the chance to enter early, according to Loveth Inyang, a witness who rescued a baby from the crush.

Deadly stampedes are not new in Nigeria and are often caused by lack of adherence to public safety measures. But analysts say people's desperation to survive is making crowd control more difficult.

Accounts from witnesses and police in Abuja and Anambra showed that the stampedes occurred before the events started as people tried to secure prime positions.

In Abuja, the church was forced to cancel the event, leaving bags of rice and clothing items inside.

Organizers of such charity events often do not consider security a priority, said Ademola Adetuberu, who runs the Abuja-based Barricade Executive Protection security firm.

Meanwhile, the number of events is increasing as philanthropists and organizations try to meet the growing demand for food.

“If organizers of such events brainstorm more, get professionals to advise them and have a budget for security, this can be prevented,” Adetuberu said.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has asked authorities to no longer tolerate “operational lapses” by organizers of such events, while police have made it mandatory for organizers to get prior permission before hosting them.

But such commitments are not new and usually difficult to enforce, analysts said.

“People’s incomes have been squeezed through the entire year. When they hear somewhere that food is being distributed, their natural instinct is to go," Nwanze said. “Add this to our notoriously poor queue culture and you have the perfect storm that will lead to such a stampede.”

Cars drive past Christmas decorations on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

A man rides a motorcycle taxi past Christmas decorations on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)