After the Storm, Daily Brief January 30, 2025

A horrific storm – the worst in nearly a century – ravaged the area. It leveled homes and wrecked infrastructure.  

In the aftermath, authorities weren’t responding fast enough to help survivors, who were struggling even to find clean water. People were desperate. People were traumatized. 

Then, the president of the country showed up. He stood in front of a local crowd and, using foul language, angrily told residents they were lucky to be where they were. 

In France. 

Mayotte – a group of islands in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Comoros – is a French overseas department. It is an integral part of France and an integral part of the European Union.  

Mayotte’s troubles did not begin when Cyclone Chido hit the island chain in December. The former French colony was already the poorest part of France and one of the worst-off parts of the European Union by almost every social indicator. French authorities have long failed to provide adequate access to safe water and sanitation to people living in Mayotte. 

The cyclone took an already unacceptable situation and made things even worse. 

Some reconstruction efforts are now underway. Students are finally returning to school this week, although many school buildings remain heavily damaged by the storm.  

But the real question today is, will French authorities simply aim for a bare minimum patch-up job? Or will they realize this is an opportunity to finally address residents’ pressing needs?  

President Emmanuel Macron’s insult to the people of Mayotte in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone was not a great start. And it was hardly the only bad omen. 

Rather than face up to the consequences of decades of France’s underinvestment in Mayotte or examine how extreme weather events like this will probably become more likely with climate change, some politicians are instead looking for someone to blame. 

And, as so often happens apparently everywhere these days, migrants are the favorite scapegoat. Estimates suggest nearly one-third of Mayotte’s population is undocumented, though this may be overstated. 

French authorities, including Macron, have suggested the official response to the cyclone impacts on Mayotte will include a crackdown on undocumented migration. Anti-immigration steps are expected to be part of a new bill that will be introduced by the French government in the coming weeks. 

It’s hard to see how demonizing migrants will address insecurity and poor sanitary conditions in Mayotte. Poor, powerless migrants aren’t the reason France has failed to improve housing, health, education, and other basic services in Mayotte for decades.  

The French government has the power; the French government has the responsibility. They should stop blaming the powerless and get on with the job of bringing standards in Mayotte at least up to the level of those in mainland France.