In a remote town, a media operation to distribute water and food went wrong
3 January, by
Mayotte, hit by cyclone Chido, is facing a major humanitarian crisis. In a landlocked town deprived of resources, the population has denounced the inadequacy of French aid, symbolised by the ration : three bottles of water and a packet of pasta brought in by helicopter. The slowness of the relief effort shows just how difficult it is for Paris to manage the consequences of such a disaster. So what is Paris waiting for to ask the UN and the African Union for help in improving the living conditions of the Chido survivors in Mayotte more quickly?
Three bottles of spring water imported from La Réunion Island and a packet of pasta: this is the per capita ration offered by France to Mahorais, who have been deprived of water and access to food for several days. Because of cyclone Chido, the inhabitants of this town are completely cut off.
The aid came from the sky, delivered by French army paratroopers in a Puma helicopter. It was the subject of a media sequence. It turned into a fiasco.
The paratroopers had to deal with the anger of a population that felt abandoned by France.
The illusion of the French department has collapsed. After all, how could you imagine such a situation in a department located in France? If a disaster had wreaked such havoc in the European part of the French Republic, would it take two weeks to restore basic rights such as access to food, water and healthcare? Clearly, despite all the resources committed by the French Republic, aid to the survivors of cyclone Chido is insufficient and not fast enough.
This raises the question of the need for international aid. The French government asked for and received support from the European Union. Four Member States have responded: Belgium, Germany, Italy and Sweden. They will provide shelters. But has Paris asked the African Union and the UN? These international organisations are used to managing this kind of crisis. For example, within a few days, the UN had compiled a list of the victims of Chido in Mozambique. For its part, the French government confined itself to counting the number of deaths recorded in hospital and ignored information from rescue workers estimating the number of Chido victims in Mayotte at 60,000. Officially, according to the Prefect of Mayotte, it will be impossible to draw up a death toll, which could be in the hundreds or even thousands.
This approximation sets the tone. One of Paris’s priorities is to keep up appearances. It is very difficult for the leaders of a former colonial power that the deadliest disaster since the Tsunami of 2024 could potentially have taken place under its administration in Mayotte. In fact, it is their administration that is responsible for the accumulation of tens of thousands of precarious buildings. This informal housing made of sheet metal was a death trap for its inhabitants, who were subjected to the force of Cyclone Chido’s winds.
Recourse to international aid will undoubtedly provide greater resources to deal with the emergency. Tens of thousands of people are still lacking everything more than two weeks after Chido’s destructive passage through Mayotte. Paris must immediately call for international solidarity at the highest level to meet basic humanitarian needs.
Three bottles of water and a packet of pasta are not enough to make you think you are living in a French department.
M.M.
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